Afghanistan's Opium Production Drops, UN Warns Death Due To Overdose

Illustration of opium plants in Afghanistan. (Wikimedia Commons/Cpl. Marco Mancha/2nd Marine Division)

JAKARTA - The UN report on Wednesday said the decline in the production of Taliban-ordered opium in Afghanistan, which has long been the world's main supplier, could increase overdose deaths, as heroin users turn to synthetic opioids that have proven deadly in Europe.

The cultivation of opium, which is the raw material for making heroin, fell to 95 percent in Afghanistan last year, after the Taliban banned narcotics production in 2022.

Although opium production in Myanmar increased by 36 percent last year, production still fell globally by 75 percent, according to the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in its annual World Drug Report published on Wednesday.

"The results of a prolonged lack of Afghan opiates can have various consequences in Afghanistan and in transit countries and Afghanistan's opiat destinations. The pureness of heroin in the market is expected to decline," UNODC said.

Preliminary field observations suggest a slight increase in Afghanistan's opium cultivation this year, but it is unlikely to return to pre-district levels, the UNODC said.

While "no real shortfall" in the main destination market for Afghan opiates such as Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia is reported until early 2024, it could change if harvests in the future remain small, he added.

"Demands for opiat care services, including for metadon, buprenorfin, and slow relief treatments, may increase, but if this service is insufficient, heroin users can switch to other opioids," the report said, outlining the potential impact of reduced supply of opiates.

"Such a transition could pose a significant risk to health and lead to an increase in overdose, especially if alternative opioids include very strong substances such as some fentanyl analogues or nitazens that have appeared in some European countries in recent years," he added.

Deaths from an overdose of nitazenes, a more powerful type of synthetic opioid than fentanyl, have been reported in Ireland, England, Estonia, and Latvia, UNODC research chief Angela Me told reporters.

Usually, heroin users will buy what they think is heroin but it will be mixed with much cheaper and stronger netizens, Me said. The drug was later detected when the test was carried out after an overdosed death.

The comprehensive report also said the cocaine supply hit record highs in 2022, the last year where data was available. While consumption in the United States appears to be down, wastewater testing shows consumption is increasing in Europe.