On Monday, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) published a report warning of a sharp rise in the number of drug users globally and ever-expanding illicit drug markets fueled by the easily accessible synthetic drugs.
The UNODC annual report shows that 13.2 million people worldwide injected drugs in 2021, 18 percent higher than its previous estimate, and over 296 million people worldwide used drugs in 2021, an increase of 23 percent over the previous decade.
The number of people suffering from drug use disorders has skyrocketed to 39.5 million globally, a surge of 45 percent over the decade.
The cheap, easy and fast production of synthetic drugs, including fentanyl, has "radically transformed" illicit drug markets around the world with "lethal results."
"Fentanyl has drastically altered the opioid market in North America with dire consequences," the UNODC report said, pointing out that in 2021 alone, the majority of the nearly 90,000 opioid-related overdose deaths in North America involved illegally manufactured fentanyl.
"Continued record illicit drug supply and increasingly agile trafficking networks are compounding intersecting global crises and challenging health services and law enforcement responses," the UNODC noted.
The report also pointed out the lack of access to treatments for drug-related disorders and the wide disparities in access to such treatments across regions.
"Only one in five people suffering from drug-related disorders were in treatment for drug use in 2021," it said.
The UNODC called for prioritizing public health, prevention and access to treatment services worldwide and improving law enforcement responses to tackle the proliferation of synthetic drugs and the increasingly agile criminal business models.