Psychoactive drugs, bane of the modern world

According to the latest report issued by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (INODC), in 2009, a total of 166 “New Psychoactive Substances” (NPS) have been used in different world countries while in the years 2019 this number has reached 803, showing 703 percent increase during 10 year span. NPS are a range of drugs that have been designed to mimic established illicit drugs, such as cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy and LSD.

This new trend of using synthetic, psychoactive drugs instead of traditional ones has set off alarm bells in world societies making the officials and institutions in charge to adopt serious measures in countering this new phenomenon.

New Psychoactive Substances are described as the range of drugs with stronger and long term effects on human body compared to the traditional, illicit drugs and are produced of synthetic substances which makes them cheaper.

The main substance groups of NPS are synthetic cannabinoids and opioids with new formulas. The main concern regarding the NPS is the diversity of these drugs which makes them difficult to identify and counter, and thus curing them by medical system is far more challenging.

The INODC report in 2018 shows a dramatic change in the global market of drugs. According to this report, in recent years there has been a sharp increase in the use of NPS which makes them a serious concern for global health. Experts say the reason behind this sharp increase is the profitable nature of this illegal business.

In the world economy, drug trafficking is considered one of the most profitable black market businesses. That is an incentive for drug dealers to establish international trafficking networks so to make a huge profit out of drugs through anti-social anti-culture behaviors.

Currently, more than 170 countries are grappling with this bane. The global income of this illegal trade is over $1600 billion and has infiltrated the economies of many countries, despite national, regional and international endeavors and allocation of vast sums and human resources for combatting the bane of drug trafficking. As a result, the criminal activities of NPS dealers has had a 703 percent rise.

The amount of confiscated drugs in the year 2016 was around 87 tons which is almost equal to the heroin confiscation for the same year.

According to the studies, the diversity of drugs in the East and Southeast Asia region is rapidly growing. Statistics also show a kind of transition in injecting drugs and the use of polymer drugs including NPS. These new specially formulated drugs can put medical service providers as well as the users of drugs in a serious challenge. Many countries have issued reports on the significant increase in NPS, both quality wise and quantity wise.

According to the latest report issued by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (INODC), these days, the non-medical use of prescribed drugs has become a serious threat for global health and security forces all over the world, in a way that around 76 percent of the mortality rate is caused by the use of these drugs.

According to Dr. Ali Reza Norouzi of Iran, a researcher in the field of psychotropic drugs, these substances cause weakness and act as stimulants. They also cause hallucination and their side effects differ, based on the chemical family they belong to. For example, the opioids cause weakness while cannabinoids could cause hallucination in high doses.

He also stressed that the use of chemical drugs can ultimately lead to severe anxiety, hysteria and dementia.

According to global studies, a large number of drug users have lost their lives thus far. Heart, arterial and mental disorders as well as severe cancers are also some of other side effects of NPS usage.

Research and the information acquired, also show that the use of non-medical drugs and sedatives in women, even if not in considerable dosage, is comparable with men, since women usually start the use of drugs later than men, but they increase the amount of usage more rapidly than men, causing them experience the side effects quickly.

However, women are still are a mere 1 out of every 5 persons under treatment. Doctors believe that treatment of over overuse of psychotropic drugs, as well as prevention and therapy, must be proportionate to women's special needs.

Unfortunately these days, the huge profit for the profiteers has made many countries across the world grapple with the bane of drugs and psychotropic substances.

Many people have put their lives in danger because of this wrong activity. The world in now witnessing huge crises and devastating challenge of narcotics- both traditional and industrial- growing in the world day by day, from East Africa to America, Europe, and Asia.

This crisis is endangering millions of lives and has made many lose their identity. Considering the growing rate of narcotic usage in the world, can we hope the affected people return to their families and society someday?

Determination and willpower of the world society in countering this crisis and adopting new measures within framework of national and international laws to combat drug trafficking can herald a brighter future for the world people.  

MG/SS