Synthetic Drug Users at Thirty to Forty Million

Drugs such as amphetamine-type stimulants and prescription medications are more and more what people are choosing according to the United Nations Drug Report for 2010. The number using such drugs will eventually exceed those using opiates and cocaine. Drug use in developed countries has remained relatively stable says the document. But in developing countries it is increasing.

A UN official said of the trend, “The developing world faces a looming crisis that would enslave millions to the misery of drug dependence.”

The report also noted the places where drug use is increasing lack facilities for treating substance abusers. Rehabilitating drug addiction is difficult enough even where there are competent facilities. According to the report, twenty million people who needed drug treatment programs did not have access, and therefore received no treatment.

As large as numbers like thirty or forty million drugs users are, the number of marijuana users (at least once a year) reported was 130 to 190 million.

One of the aspects of the drug use is the ingredients used to make illegal amphetamines are legal, and accessible. Ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are found in drugs like Sudafed and Claritin. Once obtained, they can be made in meth labs into a drug to be used, or sold on the streets. Methamphetamine causes health problems, like severe depression, brain damage, physical deterioration, and in some cases violent paranoia.

It has been known for a long time that drug use causes mental health issues and interferes with the ability to take care of one’s self and learn. Children and youth can nearly ruin, or ruin their young lives by using drugs.  One thing the report doesn’t mention is the possible connection between undiagnosed and untreated depression and drug use. Sometimes people choose drugs because they are trying to self-medicate; to make themselves feel less pain due to depression or anxiety. If someone lives in poverty and is stressed constantly, drugs may seem like an escape. Perhaps one perspective of how to reduce drug addiction is to first determine depression, high stress, and anxiety rates in those communities.

Another thing not covered in the report, was the fact that the making of the amphetamine crystal meth by drug dealers in secret locations too often causes serious environmental damage. Making meth with these chemicals can result in explosions, chemical fires, and the release of toxic gases. Meth cooking also produces solid and liquid wastes that can contaminate a building and its contents.

Once finished with a secret drug making site, criminals often leave the toxic contamination to be identified and cleaned up by others. If adults stumble upon the pollution and are unaware to the toxicity it could be dangerous to their health. The same is even more true for children who like to play with anything they can find.

Source: Care Two

See Related Report: Addiction Control – Drug Pipeline Analysis and Market Forecasts to 2015