Most methamphetamine trafficking remains intra-regional, although some inter-regional trafficking has also been detected in recent years.The largest markets for methamphetamine – and most intra-regional trafficking – remain in East and South-East Asia and North America, although trafficking has…
In Australia, past-year methamphetamine use has declined since 2004, but among people who still used the drug, there are signs of increases in intensive use patterns.A similar trend is observed in New Zealand, where the police characterize the methamphetamine market as saturated. Intensive use of…
Similarly to most internationally controlled drugs, the use of NPS among adolescents is higher than among the general population, but the difference between adolescent boys and girlsis lower for NPS than for controlled drugs.Limited data suggest that NPS use is generally higher among school…
Amphetamine seizures rose strongly until 2020-2021, declined thereafter and showed a modest rebound in 2024.Amphetamine seizures remain concentrated in the Near and Middle East (57 per cent of total seizures between 2020 and 2024) and Europe (26 per cent); in the former subregion much of the drug…
The number of NPS on the global market increased strongly in 2024 following a short period of decline between 2021 and 2023.The number of NPS on the global market rose by 30 per cent in 2024 compared to 2023 and reached a new record high of 755 substances – the number rose almost five-fold compared…
Seizures of amphetamine-type substances (ATS) in Europe are rising, with methamphetamine increasingly overtaking amphetamine.Seizures of ATS have increased strongly in Europe over the last decade, with growth reported for methamphetamine, amphetamine, “ecstasy” and non-specified and other ATS (…
While remaining at low levels in recent years, seizures of plant-based NPS are increasingly dominated by kratom, followed by khat.In contrast to the upward trend in seizures of synthetic NPS, seizures of plants-based drugs fluctuated while remaining at low levels over the 2021-2024 period. Overall…
Seizures of synthetic NPS have trended upwards since 2018 – though they still remain below the peak reported in 2012.The number of countries reporting seizures of synthetic NPS rose from, on average, just 5 over the period 2000-2004 to 80 over the period 2010-2014, before peaking over the period…
Limited data suggest stable or declining NPS use among young people, with some exceptions.Time-series data on NPS use among young people are scarce and largely limited to high-income countries.Where data are available, the use of NPS is generally stable or declining, as corroborated by recent…
Globally, the use of synthetic NPS continues to be lower than most internationally controlled drugs.Based on the available data – mainly from high-income countries – the use of synthetic NPS is generally lower than the use of drugs under international control. By contrast, the scarce data on plant-…
