A new report on the subject highlighted that these drugs tend to be more potent than those of plant origin and have become a problem, with an increasing demand and hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths each year.

Some of these synthetic substances put cardiovascular health at risk and can cause psychological and physical dependence and substance use disorders.

In the United States, 150 deaths related to overdoses of synthetic opioids occur daily, and fentanyl is the substance responsible for more than two thirds of these deaths.

Meanwhile, in the Middle East and Africa, the manufacture, trafficking and consumption of amphetamine-type stimulants is accelerating.

However, resources for drug treatment and rehabilitation programs in these regions are limited, potentially resulting in serious and long-term harm to people and considerable challenges for under-prepared health sectors. According to the report, drug trafficking is hampering development in Central America and the Caribbean, while the opioid crisis remains a serious problem for North American countries and drug-related urban violence continues to plague South America.

While Peru saw its first decline in illicit coca bush cultivation in eight years, Colombia saw a new all-time high, with potential cocaine production in the country increasing by 53 percent between 2022 and 2023.

Drug seizures in Brazil’s Amazonian states increased over that period, in parallel with a rise in the rate of deforestation.

The experts noted that illicit drug-related activities and related environmental crimes continue to generate violence and threaten vulnerable populations and biodiversity throughout South America, especially in the Amazon region.

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