1.2 PODER DE LOS MEDIOS DE COMUNICACIÓN Y LA REPUTACIÓN
1.2.4 El doble papel de los medios de comunicación como público y canal: clave
NBOMe370 compounds are a frequently reported NPS in
361 2C-B (4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine), a substance con- trolled under schedule II of the United Nations convention on Psychotropic Substance 1971, is a member of the 2C class of pheneth- ylamines.
362 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Global SMART Update Volume 10, Global Synthetics Monitoring: Analyses, Reporting and Trends (SMART) Programme, Vienna, September 2013.
363 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Annual Report Questionnaire for Brazil 2012.
364 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Annual Report Questionnaire for Argentina 2010.
365 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Annual Report Questionnaire for Uruguay 2011.
366 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Annual Report Questionnaire for Colombia 2012.
367 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Annual Report Questionnaire for Argentina 2011.
368 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Annual Report Questionnaire for Brazil, 2010.
369 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Annual Report Questionnaire for Costa Rica 2012.
370 NBOMe compounds are a series of hallucinogenic phenethylamine
the region. By 2013, Brazil, Chile and Colombia reported on the emergence of a number of NBOMe compounds. Recently, law enforcement authorities in some countries in South America have reported that the substance is being sold as “LSD” on the illicit drug market. In June 2013, the Drug Observatory of Colombia reported through its early warning system (SAT) that substances sold as LSD were actually found to contain two NBOMe compounds, 25B-NBOMe and 25C-NBOMe.371 LSD use in Colombia has also risen to particularly high levels. Unlike in previous years, where prevalence rates for LSD use in Colombia were reported to be below 1 per cent, a drug use survey among students aged 15 to 16 in 2012 ranks LSD as the second most used drug in terms of annual prevalence at 3.13 per cent, after marijuana at 15.01 per cent.372 The lifetime prevalence rate for LSD use among students aged 15 to 16 has also risen considerably to 4.9 per cent, below that of cannabis at 31.2 per cent, cocaine at 7.0 per cent and solvents and inhalants at 8.0 per cent.373 In Ecuador, lifetime “LSD” prevalence among students aged 12 to 17 in 2012 at 1.3 per cent is the same as that of cannabis (resin) and higher than that of opium at 0.9 per cent and amphetamine at 0.8 per cent.374 Given the reports of NPS being sold as “LSD”, more research is needed on the poten- tial connection between NPS and high levels of “LSD” use among certain user groups.
Recently, there have also been reports of “ecstasy” and “LSD” shipments trafficked to South America from West- ern Europe which contained NPS. In May 2013, the Chil- ean National Police seized 800 stamps believed to contain the hallucinogenic substance LSD from a consignment that had been trafficked from Spain, but which actually consisted of 25I-NBOMe.375 In 2012, “ecstasy” seizures in Chile were perceived to have originated from Argentina and Spain.376 Moreover, between 2008 and 2012, “ecstasy” seizures reported in France, Germany and Portugal were perceived to have been destined for Brazil.377
substances, which are not under international control.
371 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Annual Report Questionnaire for Colombia 2012.
372 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Annual Report Questionnaire for Colombia 2012.
373 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Annual Report Questionnaire for Colombia 2012.
374 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Annual Report Questionnaire for Ecuador 2012.
375 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Global SMART Update Volume 10, Global Synthetics Monitoring: Analyses, Reporting and Trends (SMART) Programme, Vienna, September 2013.
376 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Annual Report Questionnaire for Chile 2012.
377 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Annual Report Questionnaire for France, Germany and Portugal 2012.
8. WESTERN AND CENTRAL ASIA
Regional Overview
Methamphetamine continues to be the most commonly available ATS in Western and Central Asia, though use and seizure data for the region still remains scarce. Overall, levels of methamphetamine use in the region are low, but a surge in methamphetamine seizures in the Islamic Repub- lic of Iran point to a possible increasing domestic market. Over the years, some ATS laboratories have been disman- tled in Central Asia and there are concerns regarding the spread of manufacture to Afghanistan. Methamphetamine trafficking from the Islamic Republic of Iran to East and South-East Asia also appears to have spread to Europe.
Is the ATS market growing in Western
Asia?
The ATS market in Western and Central Asia predomi- nantly consists of methamphetamine. Since 2005, meth- amphetamine seizures made up about 90 per cent of ATS seizures in region, followed by amphetamine at 8 per cent and “ecstasy” at less than 1 per cent.
Over the years, ATS seizures in the region have greatly increased. In 2011, ATS seizures in Western and Central Asia almost totalled 4 tons, having previously reached 1.4 tons in 2010 and less than 60 kg in 2007.
The rapid rise of ATS seizures in Western and Central Asia is primarily attributable to the increase in methampheta-
mine seizures in the Islamic Republic of Iran which reported by far the largest ATS seizures in the region. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, methamphetamine seizures have rapidly increased since 2007 and in 2011 almost tri- pled reaching up to 4 tons. In spite of a slight drop in 2012, methamphetamine seizures in the Islamic Republic of Iran remained at high levels totaling around 3.4 tons.
There are no systematic ATS prevalence studies available for the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, the rise in meth- amphetamine seizures and indications of growing domestic ATS use suggest that the Islamic Republic of Iran has an expanding domestic methamphetamine market.378 According to expert perception, there was a large increase of methamphetamine use in the country in 2012.379 More- over, there has been some increase in perceived ATS-related mortality and a rise in the number of people receiving treatment for ATS use in the Islamic Republic of Iran.380 Since only small quantities of ATS have been seized in Pakistan over the past years, the full extent of the ATS
378 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Annual Report Questionnaire for the Islamic Republic of Iran for 2012. 379 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Annual
Report Questionnaire for the Islamic Republic of Iran for 2012. 380 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Annual
Report Questionnaire for the Islamic Republic of Iran for 2012.
Fig. 38: Distribution of seized ATS reported in West-
ern and Central Asia, by drug type, 2005- 2012
Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Annual Report Questionnaire 2005-2012.
Fig. 39: Total ATS seizures reported in Western and
Central Asia, 2005-2012
Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Annual Report Questionnaire 2005-2012.
Amphetamine 8% "Ecstasy" > 1% Methamphetamine 90% Non-specified ATS 2% 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500 20 05 20 06 20 07 20 08 20 09 20 10 20 11 20 12 Q u an ti ty s e iz e d ( kg ) Amphetamine "Ecstasy" Methamphetamine Non-specified ATS
been investigations into the alleged diversion of large amounts of ephedrine since March 2012.384
In Kazakhstan, there are some indications of spreading ATS use among students. The results of a drug use survey among students aged 16 to 24 in 2012 display a lifetime prevalence of “ecstasy” use at 2.3 per cent and use of amphetamines (excluding “ecstasy”) at 1.0 per cent, both of which are higher than that of cocaine use at 0.8 per cent, but below cannabis use at 11.2 per cent.385 In addition, the survey results that year recorded a lifetime prevalence of tranquilisers and sedative use below that of “ecstasy” use, at 2.1 per cent.