Tranquilliser misuse a concern: World Drug Report

Global drug use has remained stable, but the combined use of prescription drugs and illicit substances is a concern, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes said on Wednesday.

“The misuse of sedatives and tranquillisers is of particular concern, with more than 60% of the countries covered in the report ranking such substances as among the first three misused types of substances,” UNODC’s World Drug Report 2013 showed.

Researchers said the international drug control system was also floundering for the first time “under the speed and creativity of the phenomenon known as new psychoactive substances (NPS)”.

“The increasing number of NPS appearing on the market has also become a major public health concern, not only because of increasing use, but also because of the lack of scientific research and understanding of their adverse effects,” UNODC said in the report.

The number of NPS reported by member states to UNODC had risen from 166 at the end of 2009, to 251 by mid-2012 — an increase of more than 50%.

This exceeded the total number of substances under international control (234).

Cannabis, known as dagga in South Africa, remained the most widely used illicit substance globally.

South Africa came fifth on the list of most frequently mentioned countries of provenance for individual drug seizure cases for dagga between 2001 and 2012. Morocco was number one and Mozambique 12th.

The report listed a 5% “best estimate” for the prevalence of cannabis use in Southern Africa, and 0.4% for cocaine.

In terms of the NPS market, synthetic cannabinoid products dominated, where data was available.

The report defined NPS as “substances of abuse, either in a pure form or a preparation, that are not controlled by the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, or the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971, but that may pose a public health threat”.

The term “new” did not necessarily refer to newly-invented substances, but rather to substances which had recently become available.

Mephedrone appeared to be the most widespread NPS in Hungary and the United Kingdom, and “BZP” was the most widespread in New Zealand, where it was marketed as a legal alternative to, or substitute for, methamphetamine.

Ketamine topped the list in several countries of Southeast Asia, and had been reported by countries in the near and Middle East, the Americas, and Europe.

Plant-based NPS were most widespread in their countries of origin, such as kratom in Thailand and khat in Yemen, and several countries around the Horn of Africa, researchers said.

Synthetic NPS in Africa appeared to be most used in some of the more developed countries of the continent, such as South Africa and Egypt.