Patterns and trends of amphetamine-type stimulants and other drugs: Asia and the Pacific 2012
Amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) are the second most widely used class of drugs worldwide, after cannabis. The East and South-East Asia region, which is home to about one-third of the global population, has some of the largest and most established ATS markets in the world. Methamphetamine in pill, powder and crystalline forms are the most widely used forms of ATS in the region. Demand for ecstasy remains high, although its use has declined. Since the late 1990s, the illicit manufacture, trafficking and use of ATS have expanded significantly in the region. These trends continued in 2011.
The present report highlights the most current patterns and trends of amphetamine-type stimulants and other drugs of use in East and South-East Asia and provides overviews for the neighbouring regions of South Asia and the Pacific. This is the latest in a series of reports prepared under the Global Synthetics Monitoring: Analyses, Reporting and Trends (SMART) Programme.
The objective of the Global SMART Programme is to enhance the capacity of Member States and relevant authorities to generate, manage, analyse, report and use synthetic drug information, in order to design effective, scientifically-sound and evidencebased policies and programmes.
The findings of the report are based on primary information submitted by the drug control agencies and designated institutions in Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam, via the Drug Abuse Information Network for Asia and the Pacific (DAINAP) established through the Global SMART Programme. Information from DAINAP is supplemented with data from other Government sources such as national reports, the Annual Reports Questionnaire, and through primary and secondary research. Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Republic of Korea also provided data to the Global SMART Programme for this report.
Significant levels of ATS use were reported from all 15 countries that contributed to this report, with 12 countries reporting methamphetamine as the primary or secondary drug of use. In East and South-East Asia, annual prevalence of ATS use is estimated to be 0.2-1.3 per cent of the population aged 15-64 years. The number of persons who have used amphetamines in the past year in East and South-East Asia is estimated between 3.7 and 19.5 million. In 2011, seven countries reported the use of methamphetamine pills, while all but two countries (Lao PDR and Myanmar) reported the use of crystalline methamphetamine.
Methamphetamine seizures in East and South-East Asia have accounted for almost half of the global totals during the past few years. In 2011, seizures continued at historically high levels, with a number of countries reporting significant increases. Illicit ATS manufacture also continued at high, albeit slightly declining, levels in 2011. As is the case elsewhere in the world, much of the ATS illicitly manufactured in East and South-East Asia is used within the region. Precursor chemicals – often in the form of pharmaceutical preparations – used in the illicit manufacture of methamphetamine are often easily obtainable, and a large portion of the precursor chemicals are produced in this region. In addition, transnational organized criminal groups based outside of the region continue to be involved in illicit ATS trade.
Although improvements continue to be made in the region in terms of data generation, analysis and sharing as well as forensic capacity, numerous challenges remain in order to assess the full extent of the security and health implications of illicit manufacture, trafficking and use of ATS in the region.
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