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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 12:27 am
Time: 12:27 am
Results for narcotics production
2 results foundAuthor: Lind, Jo Thori Title: Opium for the Masses? Conflict-Induced Narcotics Production in Afghanistan. Summary: Opium production in Afghanistan has helped finance holy wars against Soviet occupation, violent power contests among warlords, the rise of Taliban and its way to power, and the present resistance against Western intervention. What is less well known is how conflicts have spurred opium production as well. This paper shows how the recent rise in poppy cultivation in Afghanistan can be understood as a direct consequence of the rising violent conflicts. Details: Munich: Center for Economic Studies & Ifo Institute for Economic Research, 2009. 30p. Source: CESifo Working Paper; no. 2573 Year: 2009 Country: Afghanistan URL: Shelf Number: 113843 Keywords: Narcotics ProductionOpiumViolence |
Author: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction Title: Amphetamine: A European Union perspective in the global context Summary: This report is the third in a series of European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)–Europol joint publications dedicated to prevalent illicit drugs. It focuses on amphetamine, a substance belonging to the family often referred to as amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), which covers two main groups of substances: the ‘amphetamines’, which includes amphetamine, methamphetamine and related substances, and the ‘ecstasy-type’ drugs, which includes methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and its close relatives methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) and methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA).This study focuses on amphetamine production and markets in Europe, set in a global context. The first two EMCDDA–Europol joint publications were dedicated to methamphetamine and cocaine, while ecstasy-type substances, heroin and cannabis will be addressed in future publications. The current patterns of amphetamine use in Europe are influenced by both historical and more recent factors. The use of amphetamine has evolved over the years since it was first synthesised, in 1887. Originally an experimental substance used as a medicine to treat narcolepsy, amphetamine was used as a stimulant and performance enhancer by soldiers in the Second World War. In the late 1940s, it became a product of mass consumption, and it remained a widely prescribed medication well into the 1960s. Since the early 1970s, amphetamine has been an illicitly used and produced drug, and since the 1990s it has experienced renewed popularity in many parts of Europe, especially northern Europe. Although, worldwide, methamphetamine is probably the most widely used synthetic stimulant, in Europe it is amphetamine, mostly in the form of the sulphate salt, that has historically been, and remains, the most produced, trafficked and used synthetic stimulant. Amphetamine, therefore, may be neatly viewed as a ‘European drug’. Paradoxically, amphetamine has attracted much less attention in the European and global media, in policy circles and in academia than other drugs such as cannabis, cocaine or heroin. Even the closely related methamphetamine often seems to get more attention, although, compared with amphetamine, its production and use are much less prevalent in Europe. As a result, comparatively less information and analysis is available on amphetamine than on many other substances. Even so, EMCDDA and Europol data and analysis, as well as the literature reviewed for this report, strongly suggest that the demand and supply of amphetamine in Europe are not secondary issues but warrant careful attention. Overall, amphetamine has stabilised as the second most widely used stimulant drug in Europe today, after cocaine. And in many countries, especially in the north and east of Europe, it is the most consumed stimulant, far ahead of cocaine. In fact, in many of those countries, amphetamine is the second most widely used illicit drug after cannabis. Broadly speaking, the European amphetamine market can be characterised by two main patterns of use. The biggest group of users are generally episodic or occasional users of the drug, most of whom will be relatively well integrated socially, especially in terms of housing and employment status. Patterns of use among this group will vary from occasional experimental use (only once or twice) to regular episodic but intensive periods of use. The typical mode of administration will be nasal insufflation (snorting) or oral ingestion (swallowing). A second, more chronic, pattern of use can also be found in some countries, notably Norway, Latvia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. This pattern of use is characterised by the chronic (i.e. long-term) injection of often high-dose amphetamine. Users tend to be more socially marginalised and have more chronic health problems. In some countries, amphetamine therefore makes up a significant part of the national drug problem, with the concomitant health and social consequences, and the attendant costs to European societies, that this entails. Other consequences derive from the fact that the European amphetamine markets — 2 million Europeans are estimated to have used the drug in the last year — represent highly profitable ‘business opportunities’ for organised crime. Although some amphetamine is produced in ‘kitchen-type’ laboratories set up by chemistry students to supply a group of local friends, it is likely that the vast majority is manufactured in middling to large, sometimes ‘industrial size’, facilities. And, in this case, production and wholesale trafficking are in the hands of criminal organisations, some of which are able to operate throughout Europe, and even beyond, and which reap the corresponding profits. The decrease in the number of amphetamine production facilities dismantled in Europe in recent years does not necessarily make for comforting news, as forensic intelligence suggests that there is an increase in the production capacity of the facilities seized in key producer countries. The information available suggests that Europe is the world’s number one producer of amphetamine, with much of the production consumed within European borders. However, Europe also produces amphetamine that is usually exported to the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula, where it is sold under the name ‘captagon’ (see p. 12). For conceptual clarity, the production and use of amphetamine in Europe needs to be distinguished from the production and export of amphetamine sold as captagon outside the European Union (EU). Patterns of use, including dose and route of administration, also are likely to differ considerably between these products. All this emphasises the need for careful monitoring of the production, trafficking and use of amphetamine in Europe today and is one of the reasons why the EMCDDA and Europol have joined efforts to publish the present report. Based on the latest statistical data, intelligence reports and original analysis, this joint publication hopes to enhance the understanding of amphetamine, an often overlooked but nevertheless key component on the European scene for stimulant drugs. -- See earlier report in DMG Gray Literature Database at #115669 -- Details: Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2011. 50p. Source: EMCDDA-Europol Joint Publications No. 3: Internet Resource: Accessed February 21, 2012 at https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/publications/emcdda-europol_joint_publications._amphetamine_a_european_union_perspective_in_the_global_context.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Europe URL: https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/publications/emcdda-europol_joint_publications._amphetamine_a_european_union_perspective_in_the_global_context.pdf Shelf Number: 123592 Keywords: AmphetaminesDrug Abuse and AddictionMethamphetaminesNarcotics Production |