Asia's exploding demand for methamphetamine has left them with a problem... too few cooks and not enough ingredients. As AFP reports [6], strong and growing demand for drugs in Asia is driving up global production of methamphetamine, with seizures in the region tripling in five years to record levels, a UN report below shows. China has had particularly severe problems, it said. In 2008, Chinese authorities seized six tonnes of methamphetamine. That figure soared to more than 16 tonnes in 2012, accounting for about 45 percent of total methamphetamine seizures for Asia that year, the UNODC said. The drug is often trafficked long distances, as we show below, adding the routes being used by drug sellers are becoming increasingly well-trodden. As demand rises, so production has increasingly shifted to Asia with 'Walter Whites' making bases in China, Myanmar, and the Philippinnes.
Americans still spend a fortune on drugs... (over $108 billion in 2010)
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h/t @conradhackett
But as AFP reports, [6]demand is spreading...
Strong and growing demand for drugs in Asia is driving up global production of methamphetamine, with seizures in the region tripling in five years to record levels, a UN body said Tuesday.
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Both the use and the production of the drug is growing in the region, in concert with the expanding economy of the world's most populous continent, leading to growing social problems and higher healthcare bills.
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"Over the years, methamphetamine seizures have been predominantly reported in East and South-East Asia, in countries such as China, Indonesia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand," the Office said ahead of the report's launch in Tokyo.
Asia has long served as the world's largest market for "amphetamine-type stimulants" (ATS), the UN body says.
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Seizures of ATS-related drugs tripled to at least 36 tonnes per year in the five years to 2012, the report said.
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China has had particularly severe problems,
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Growing ATS use was accompanied by expanding regional production, with large bases seen in China, Myanmar and the Philippines, the UN body said.
The drug is often trafficked long distances, the report said, adding the routes being used by drug sellers are becoming increasingly well-trodden. Notably from Mexico, the Middle East, South and West Asia, and West Africa to Japan and other lucrative markets in East and Southeast Asia and Oceania.
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The increased wealth and rise of the middle class has its drawbacks...
The continued spread of methamphetamine across Asia poses a growing challenge to justice systems and health providers in societies with large youthful populations, UNODC said.
Ironically, the things that are starting to boost living standards in Asia -- greater regional integration resulting in improved trade -- are the very things that are accelerating the spread of the drug.
"The impact of synthetic drugs, especially methamphetamine and new psychoactive substances, on the police, court, prison and health care systems of states in the region is tremendous," Jeremy Douglas, UNODC Regional Representative, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said in a prepared statement.
"This rising threat of synthetic drugs is compounded for Japan and Asia because the production epicentres of amphetamine-type stimulants and new psychoactive substances are nearby," Douglas added.
Be careful what you wish for...