Thoughts from the void: Cannabis and Pakistan

'The largest number of PWID [persons who inject drugs] living with HIV reside in Eastern Europe, East and South-East Asia and South-West Asia, which together account for 67 per cent of the global total. Although the prevalence of HIV among PWID (9.3 per cent) is below the global average, a fifth of the global number of PWID living with HIV reside in East and South-East Asia. A small number of countries continue to account for a large proportion of the total global number of PWID living with HIV. In 2018, for example, PWID living with HIV in China, Pakistan and the Russian Federation accounted for almost half of the global total (49 per cent), while PWID in those three countries comprise only a third of all PWID worldwide.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf

'The largest quantities of both opium and morphine seized were reported by the Islamic Republic of Iran, followed by Afghanistan and Pakistan, while seizures reported by other countries remained comparatively modest. The largest total quantity of heroin seized by a country in 2018 was that seized by the Islamic Republic of Iran (for the first time since 2014), followed by Turkey, the United States, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Belgium.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf

'Almost 70 per cent of the global quantities of heroin and morphine (the two main internationally trafficked opiates) seized in 2018 were intercepted in Asia, mostly in South-West Asia. The two subregions surrounding Afghanistan, South-West Asia and Central Asia, together accounted for more than 56 per cent of the global quantity of heroin and morphine seized

Despite the decline in 2018, the overall trend in seizures of heroin and morphine in that subregion continued to be an upward one over the period 2008–2018. South-West Asia continued to account for the majority of the global quantities of heroin and morphine seized globally in 2018 (close to 56 per cent), with the largest quantities seized being reported by the Islamic Republic of Iran, followed by Afghanistan and Pakistan.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf

'The Islamic Republic of Iran reported that 75 per cent of the morphine and 75 per cent of the heroin seized on its territory in 2018 had been trafficked via Pakistan, while the remainder had been smuggled directly into the country from Afghanistan. Typically, heroin is then smuggled to Turkey (70 per cent of all the heroin seized in the Islamic Republic of Iran in both 2016 and 2017) and from there along the Balkan route to Western and Central Europe, either via the western branch of the route via Bulgaria to various western Balkan countries or, to a lesser extent, via the eastern branch of the route via Bulgaria and then to Romania and Hungary, before reaching the main consumer markets in Western and Central Europe' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf

'Nonetheless, seizures of methamphetamine remain highly concentrated: the three countries responsible for most of the methamphetamine seized worldwide in 2018 (the United States, Thailand and Mexico) accounted for 80 per cent of the global total, while the three countries reporting the largest quantities of amphetamine (Turkey, Pakistan and the Syrian Arab Republic) and the three countries reporting the most “ecstasy” seized (Turkey, the United States and Australia) accounted for a significantly smaller proportion of the global total (around 50 per cent) in 2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf

'Similar to the situation in the United States, where the manufacture of methamphetamine declined while increasing in neighbouring Mexico, both China and Iran (Islamic Republic of) reported declining domestic production, reflected in the decreasing numbers of methamphetamine laboratories dismantled in recent years, going hand in hand with the expansion of methamphetamine manufacture in their neighbouring countries. Indeed, by 2018 the Islamic Republic of Iran reported that most of the methamphetamine found on its territory originated in Afghanistan and was trafficked either from there directly or via Pakistan. Similarly, China reported that methamphetamine seized in recent years has originated primarily in Myanmar. In contrast to many other countries, however, the marked declines in the domestic manufacture of methamphetamine in China appear to have more than outweighed any increase in clandestine manufacture and imports from neighbouring countries. This is revealed in the decline in methamphetamine found in the wastewater in cities across China, with wastewater-based estimates suggesting a fall in methamphetamine consumption amounts of 26 per cent over the period 2014 –2018' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf

'Afghanistan appears to be the second most important source country of cannabis resin worldwide, with 19 per cent of all mentions worldwide in the annual report questionnaire over the period 2014– 2018, followed by Pakistan and Lebanon. The cannabis resin produced in these countries is principally destined for other countries in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia, although cannabis resin originating in Afghanistan has also been identified in Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Western and Central Europe. The Islamic Republic of Iran reported that the cannabis resin found on its territory originated mainly in Afghanistan (followed by Pakistan), with some 65 per cent destined for countries of the Arabian peninsula, 15 per cent for the Caucasus and some 20 per cent for domestic consumption. Cannabis resin originating in Lebanon is mainly found in the Near and Middle East and, to a lesser extent, in Western and Central Europe.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf

Afghanistan and Mexico source the heroin and morphine. Mexico, Thailand, Myanmar and China source the methamphetamine. The Middle East and Eastern Europe sources the amphetamine. The US consumes heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. Europe consumes heroin, morphine, methamphetamine and amphetamine. Asia consumes heroin, morphine and methamphetamine. Australia consumes methamphetamine. The Middle East consumes heroin and amphetamine. West Asia consumes heroin and methamphetamine. All countries grow and consume cannabis. Opioids, methamphetamine and amphetamines kill the most in terms of drug deaths, cannabis kills none. Who are the leading opponents to cannabis legalization and leading enforcers of global anti-cannabis policy? The countries involved the most in heroin, morphine, amphetamines and methamphetamines. They put on a mask of concern about harms from drugs, produce, sell and consume the most dangerous synthetic drugs and vehemently oppose cannabis legalization worldwide while clandestinely feeding their habits and protecting their sources. They use arms and armies to protect and promote their synthetic drug habits, and drug money to fund and wage a war on cannabis everywhere, pushing man and planet ever closer to death on massive scales and away from the safe, healing cannabis herb...
Jul 10, 2020, 1:14 PM