U.N. Reports Global Cocaine, Opium Production At Heights

A U.N. report warns the global production of cocaine and opium has reached record-breaking levels as the markets for those and other illicit drugs expand.

In its World Drug Report 2018, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime finds global opium production jumped by 65 percent to 10,500 tons from 2016 to 2017, and in 2016 more than 1,400 tons of cocaine were manufactured globally, the highest level ever recorded.

The report says most of the world's cocaine comes from Colombia and is sold in North America. It says Africa and Asia are emerging as trafficking and consumption hubs. It says opium is mainly produced in Afghanistan and shipped through the so-called Balkan route into Turkey and West Europe.

Director of Division for Operations of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime Miwa Kato tells VOA the growing opioid crisis, that is the non-medical use of prescription drugs, is becoming a major threat to public health and law enforcement worldwide.

"It is now accounting for three-quarters of addiction-related deaths around the world. So, it is a growing concern both in contexts like the North America context where the media attention very much is, but also in large parts of Africa and parts of Asia, where we do see similar problems," Miwa Kato said.

The report finds 275 million people between the ages of 15 and 64 used illicit drugs at least once last year and nearly one-half-million drug abusers have died. Kato says the data is always very conservative and the true number of users and deaths is likely to be much higher.

The report says cannabis was the most widely consumed drug in 2016. It says it is too early to know the impact of the legalization of the recreational use of cannabis.

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But the report says data from Colorado, one of the first states in the U.S. to legalize marijuana, show a rise in emergency hospital admissions from marijuana intoxication and an increase in traffic accidents and deaths. (VOA)