The World Drug Report, published on Friday by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), revealed that the global drug trade is growing rapidly and new synthetic substances have reached record levels.
According to the report, 755 types of new psychoactive substances (NPS) were detected on the market in 2024, 118 of which were recorded for the first time. This represents a five-fold increase compared to four years ago.
UNODC Executive Director Monica Juma said, "We have witnessed an unprecedented increase in the number of new drug types on the market, and alarmingly, some are more potent or dangerous than before."
The Taliban's ban on poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in 2022 continues to affect heroin production and use, while leading to the proliferation of more potent and easily produced synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, nitazenes, and orphines. The UN warned that this could cause a permanent shift in the global market and "higher levels of harm" for users.
Methamphetamine trafficking is estimated to be growing by 13 percent annually based on seizure data. New routes and the spread of production have created new markets, particularly in Africa, the Near and Middle East, and parts of Europe.
The fall of the Assad regime in Syria in 2024 caused disruptions and price increases in the market for Captagon, an amphetamine-like drug. The UN states that this could drive users towards methamphetamine.
Cocaine production has reached an all-time high. It was reported that production increased four-fold in a decade to over 4,000 tons of pure cocaine in 2024. Organized crime groups continue to push the drug into both established and emerging markets to expand their customer base, while quality increases and prices fall.
