This is how illegal drugs flow around the world

S

sigmond

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Mar 21, 2015
Messages
3,411
Paul Muggeridge

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has released its latest snapshot of the state of the illicit drug trade, in the World Drug Report 2015.
It shows little change in the production, use and health consequences of illicit drugs, with an estimated 246 million people using drugs at least once in 2013 (the latest year for which data is available).

While that number is an increase of 3 million over 2012, the increase in the global population means overall usage has remained stable.
The UNODC report includes a series of maps showing the main trafficking routes of different drugs, based on data related to official seizures along with country reports and responses to annual report questionnaires.
150629-world-drugs-report-cocaine-flow-map-1024x575.jpg


Production of cocaine has continued to decline, with 2013 seeing the lowest level of coca bush cultivation since the mid-1980s. Cocaine use has also declined in the largest markets of North America, and Western and Central Europe.

150629-world-drugs-report-opiates-1024x570.jpg


While the use of opiates, such as heroin, has remained stable at the global level, opium poppy cultivation reached the highest level in 2014 for nearly 80 years. The UNODC says it’s unclear where the additional heroin is going.
150629-world-drugs-report-meth-flow-map.jpg


The use of methamphetamine has increased in the established markets of East and South-East Asia, but there are also signs of increasing consumption in parts of North America and Europe.

https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/06/this-is-how-illegal-drugs-flow-around-the-world/#disqus_thread
 
Opiates are growing while coke is decreasing. It seems the producers are betting more money in drugs that create physical dependence.
This will never stop IMO.
 
I suspect it has to do with the rise of methamphetamine use and because most coke is of such low purity once it reaches the user.

I find it interesting that Pakistan is supposedly supplying Vancouver with most of it's opiates.

Must be some good stuff there...
 
hang i only read friday that columbia has boosted its cultivation by 41% because of the possible peace treaty between the government and farc yet this says it's dropped

Production of cocaine has continued to decline, with 2013 seeing the lowest level of coca bush cultivation since the mid-1980s. Cocaine use has also declined in the largest markets of North America, and Western and Central Europe.
 
What I find striking is the difference between the meth map and the other two. It appears meth is a decentralized drug for an increasingly decentralized world. It's made everywhere and shipped everywhere. Just as with licit markets for manufactured goods, the old mercantilist model of one or two major source countries supplying raw product to a handful of major trader countries who then get rich supplying the rest of the world, is becoming kind of dated.

The mercantilist model is probably a lot easier to police -- you cut off the head of the dragon and it dies. At least temporarily. But in a completely decentralized world drug market made possible by the Internet, drug enforcement is just a game of bop-a-gopher. But then again, the War On Drugs, to those waging it, isn't really war anymore -- it's hunting. And the new decentralized trade model fits this goal very well, as there will always be more prey to hunt.
 
I don't remember hearing bop-a-gopher before, it sounds much better than whac-a-mole.

Historically in the U.S there seems to be a link between purity and usage rates. I assume one of the reasons people are using meth instead of coke is because they have only experienced shitty coke. (or whatever you prefer to call what they sell as coke nowadays)
 
I always wonder how much the amped up need for productivity has to do with an increase in meth use (pun intended). All over the world workers are having to work harder. They have to work harder at their jobs because positions are eliminated and one person is then required to do the work of three and they have to have more than one job to make ends meet. This holds true from the lowest paid workers right up into the lower echelons of the white collar world. Couple that with the alarming number of children's brains that have been conditioned to need amphetamines from about the age of 11 ( common age to be put on Adderall or Concerta in the US) and I can see the needs this particular drug is meeting.

I was surprised to see the meth coming into the US from Central America rather than Mexico.

@MyDoorsAreOpen: I have always perceived that hunting mentality (anticipation, planning, reward) as a huge factor in the kind of people that go into working in the DEA and related organizations.

@Sigmond: I had never heard bop-a-gopher either but I wish someone would come bop a few in my garden--they are apparently thriving in the drought. Maybe they're on meth, too.
 
The cartels know that weed is becoming more accepted in the US so they are planting more poppies and apparently making better dope. I saw a show the other day and border guards caught a loaded car with like 20 kilos hidden DEEP on the car, they basically tore it apart...but they opened one brick to field test and it was light tan powder, when he cracked the reagent vial it turned pretty much instantly. They put the valueat like 2 mil iirc....

But interesting looking at the flow, and meth is interesting bc you don't need any natural products like poppies or coca leaves. The far east is pumping that stuff out like mad.
 
MyDoorsAreOpen said:
What I find striking is the difference between the meth map and the other two. It appears meth is a decentralized drug for an increasingly decentralized world.
Click to expand...

The beauty of methamphetamine is that it's such a simple molecule that it can be made anywhere by just about anyone with a little initiative. The other two drugs are far too complicated to synthesize and are highly dependant on localized agriculture.

herbavore said:
I was surprised to see the meth coming into the US from Central America rather than Mexico.
Click to expand...

I think the map just shows that it it flowing from "Central America" to "North America," and Mexico would be included in the latter. I wish they would have been more detailed and shown the transit between countries, like in the other maps, but I suppose the routes are far more sporadic than the cocaine and heroin routes and are probably a lot harder to nail down, thus the more general trends.
 
foolsgold said:
hang i only read friday that columbia has boosted its cultivation by 41% because of the possible peace treaty between the government and farc yet this says it's dropped
Click to expand...

not sure if serious...Anyway, it's a 156 page report that takes them years to produce. So things can change before it's released.

SJB said:
The beauty of methamphetamine is that it's such a simple molecule that it can be made anywhere by just about anyone with a little initiative. The other two drugs are far too complicated to synthesize and are highly dependent on localized agriculture.
Click to expand...

good point. From what I read it was far more difficult to get accurate data regarding the flow of meth. I thought most of it originated in China.
 
herbavore said:
I always wonder how much the amped up need for productivity has to do with an increase in meth use (pun intended). All over the world workers are having to work harder. They have to work harder at their jobs because positions are eliminated and one person is then required to do the work of three and they have to have more than one job to make ends meet. This holds true from the lowest paid workers right up into the lower echelons of the white collar world. Couple that with the alarming number of children's brains that have been conditioned to need amphetamines from about the age of 11 ( common age to be put on Adderall or Concerta in the US) and I can see the needs this particular drug is meeting.

I was surprised to see the meth coming into the US from Central America rather than Mexico.

@MyDoorsAreOpen: I have always perceived that hunting mentality (anticipation, planning, reward) as a huge factor in the kind of people that go into working in the DEA and related organizations.

@Sigmond: I had never heard bop-a-gopher either but I wish someone would come bop a few in my garden--they are apparently thriving in the drought. Maybe they're on meth, too.
Click to expand...

Pretty much the majority of people I know who do meth at least at one time started off using it for demanding manual labor jobs. Obviously truckers which most people know, off shore workers, people who work in plants, dock workers, people who work construction jobs, things like that.
 
I've known a handful of programmers/IT people who used it for work as well.

Hell, the only time I would every use it would be when I have to stay up for whatever reason or do a lot work.

Or get wasted (i hate drinking too much, but a line of methamp and a bowl of green make drinking to much possible - taking good care of myself huh? If I did this more than once or twice a year I don't even wanna think about the kind of damage I'd be doing to my poor insides).
 
Zhenli Ye Gon was one of the reasons I figured most meth originated in China. He seemed to be doing pretty well for himself...:\
YeGon_millions.jpg
 
foolsgold said:
hang i only read friday that columbia has boosted its cultivation by 41% because of the possible peace treaty between the government and farc yet this says it's dropped

Production of cocaine has continued to decline, with 2013 seeing the lowest level of coca bush cultivation since the mid-1980s. Cocaine use has also declined in the largest markets of North America, and Western and Central Europe.
Click to expand...

True. And when available it´s really cut and bad quality. The excellent Coke I was once use to have is no longer available. Even if you have a lot of money.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top