Hashish, popularly often known as marijuana or weed, stays probably the most sourced, trafficked and used drug in Africa, the 2024 World Drug Report has revealed.
The craze for hashish and different illicit medication similar to cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and pharmaceutical opioids is progressively making the continent a transit hub for drug trafficking.
These medication, the report disclosed, had infiltrated native markets, exacerbating well being challenges.
This was disclosed on the regional launch of the World Drug Report 2024 by the United Nations Workplace on Medication and Crime (UNODC) in Accra final Wednesday as a part of the celebrations of the Worldwide Day Towards Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
Present state of affairs
“Africa is more and more turning into a key transit hub for medication, with substances similar to cocaine from Latin America, and heroin and methamphetamine from South-West Asia passing by way of on their option to Europe and different locations. Over the previous 30 years, legal networks have expanded their operations within the area,” the report mentioned.
It said that between January 2019 and June 2024, not less than 126.4 tons of cocaine have been seized en route or from West Africa, primarily in worldwide waters within the Gulf of Guinea (30.8 tons), in Cape Verde (18.2 tons), Senegal (15.7 tons) and Guinea (5.6 tons).
This has led to a surge in drug consumption and dependency inside native communities.
“Cocaine, which was beforehand believed to solely transit the area, is more and more used, with the variety of folks coming into remedy for cocaine rising. In 2020, legislation enforcement in Niger reported the dismantlement of two clandestine laboratories producing crack cocaine for the native market. Senegal dismantled a cocaine laboratory in 2021, seizing 675kg of cocaine within the operation’, it added.
It additional disclosed that non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids like tramadol additionally remained excessive in North Africa, in addition to in West and Central Africa, with over 90 per cent of world tramadol seizures occurring in Africa up to now 5 years.
Once more, dangerous drug mixtures similar to Kush, Khadafi and Monkey Tail have been rising public well being threats and would require member states to reinforce their capacities to promptly establish and analyse new dangerous home drug combos.
Methods to fight medication
To successfully fight drug threats within the area, member states, the report mentioned, should put money into prevention and remedy, whereas implementing evidence-based methods for combating drug trafficking and organised crime, recognising the worldwide nature of the drug drawback, and the necessity for coordinated motion.
It indicated that there should be efforts to dismantle drug networks successfully by prioritising the interception and disruption of high-level trafficking operations utilizing key methods, together with reallocating sources to focus on high-profit people and teams on the core of the drug commerce, in addition to enhancing worldwide judicial cooperation.
The report advisable the rise of the scientific testing capability of regional laboratories, enabling the immediate detection and evaluation of their elements. This method will bolster the power of legislation enforcement and well being businesses to answer and mitigate the rising drug threats successfully.
“The proof is obvious: investing in drug prevention saves lives by defending communities from the dangerous results of medicine”, the Regional Consultant at UNODC Regional Workplace for West and Central Africa, Dr. Amado Philip de Andrés, mentioned, including, “It additionally weakens legal teams by decreasing the income they generate from folks’ addictions.”
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