The primary substance of concern varies by country. Experts consider it necessary to strengthen the international response that exists to this problem.
Cannabis, cocaine, heroin, synthetic opioids and methamphetamine is what can be found throughout the entire American continent. The main substance of concern varies by country, reflecting the variety of illegal drug supply in the area.
The Organization of American States (OAS), through the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (Cicad), published a Executive summary of the Report on the Supply of Drugs in the Americas 2021, which he plans to present in 2022, in which he analyzes data on the supply of drugs in 27 countries in the Western Hemisphere.
Cannabis and cocaine are the substances most cited in statistics in terms of seizures, arrests and production; however, traffic patterns may be changing throughout the region.
The commission also refers that the pandemic had a negative impact on the availability of 2020 data.
However, all OAS member states, which provided data for the report, mentioned having the presence of cannabis and the document states that seizures of this drug are the highest in the hemisphere, followed by cocaine and coca-based substances.
One of the changes is evident in the trends of cannabis seizures by subregion. The Cicad reports that, historically, the largest seizures of cannabis have occurred in North America, but that between 2016 and 2019, seizures of this drug remained constant for the Caribbean and Central America, they decreased for North America and increased in South America.
“Drugs are a public health problem … they have truly taken over the American continent and the States must intervene in public health and education, starting from childhood and youth so that they can have real alternatives to prevent them from being conquered by it. drug use, “he says Jorge Villacreses, expert in criminology and security.
Gonzalo alban, a consultant in Public Management and Public Policies, agrees that this situation is a public health problem and that there are many unknowns, including what happens after the drugs are seized.
In Ecuador, Villacreses comments that the substance that is most consumed is ax, made with substances that are very harmful to health, although it says that there is cannabis and cocaine use in higher social classes. The expert agrees with the document that it is not possible to define which drug is the one that causes the most problems in each country.
Meanwhile, the case of the cocaine, the document states that its eradication increased in Colombia between 2016 and 2019, but which remained stable in Bolivia during the same period. After a decline between 2016 and 2017, eradication totals in Peru were stable for the rest of the period.
Several countries reported on the domestic consumption markets for cocaine or crack.
Regarding this same substance, Colombia indicated that production has increased due to more efficient processing methods and new strains of coca with longer productive lives.
Peru also reported innovations in cultivation practices based on the replacement of lime and acids by cement and salt for drying and refining the production of cocaine hydrochloride.
This drug is of concern to the Americas because of the high prevalence of containerized shipments destined for the North American and European markets, mostly from South America.
Regarding this substance, Villacreses mentions that given the current situation in the world, especially in South America in the jungle, the option of growing and producing this drug is a way of obtaining income for the people of those areas.
Consider that a mechanism To control this situation it may be to carry out operations with drones that can access such inhospitable regions.
For his part, for Albán prevention campaigns are necessary, true medical care that goes beyond detoxification, with unified and approved treatments, and work on the reintegration of rehabilitated consumers through comprehensive public policies.
On the other hand, and unlike the previous substances, trade in heroin and opiates it is intraregional. Very little heroin is shipped to markets in Europe or Asia.
Most of the traffic data comes from North America, as does the consumption and traffic data from synthetic opioidsespecially from the United States and Canada and, based on those provided, there is concern in these countries that fentanyl is increasingly being used to adulterate heroin.
Regarding this substance, in addition to the United States, Guatemala and Mexico mentioned it as a drug of concern and countries such as Colombia, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic documented a low prevalence of heroin use.
The North American market is also concentrated methamphetamine, the most common synthetic drug in the region, according to the Cicad.
The document states that production has shifted south to Mexico, and that it is destined to the markets of the United States and Canada. The ease with which it can be produced anywhere in the world could pose future challenges for other countries.
Methamphetamine seizures have increased proportionally more than any other drug seized.
Faced with this scenario, the Cicad says that countries should consider developing or strengthening early warning systems to respond to synthetic substances, new psychoactive substances and other emerging substances.
“It should be noted that not everyone who consumes crimes, you cannot mix a public health problem with a security problem,” says Albán and highlights the need to also implement full controls for drug trafficking and micro-trafficking.
He refers that there is no approach to the causes of the problem and that being able to delve into the causes would allow building a better strategy with greater clarity, greater data and linking the different actors of civil society and even international allies.
“You have a problem that is repetitive in all countries, A committee should be created at the regional level of countries that integrate the fight against drugsIt would be a very interesting option and that they can generate public policies that can be replicated in other nations, because there is a similarity, the problem is drug trafficking itself, ”he says.
Villacreses agrees and says that “all countries have to organize themselves for a deeper international response because the one that already exists is insufficient, they must have an international contingent to do a more effective work, he says and considers that for this situation to be controlled, should legalize the consumption of these substances in the near future. (I)
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