On June 27, 2022 online, CARICC Director, Major General of Militia Miralizoda Rustam Aziz took part in a regional press conference in connection with the release of the World Drug Report.The event was organized by the Regional Office of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Tashkent in a hybrid format.

The press conference was attended by the head of the UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia, Ms. Ashita Mittal, representatives of the competent authorities of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.

Ms. A. Mittal made a presentation of the World Drug Report, according to which about 275 million people around the world used drugs over the past year, while more than 36 million people suffered from drug use disorders.

The Report also notes that over the past 24 years, the “potency” of cannabis has more than quadrupled in some parts of the world, with the percentage of adolescents and young adults who considered the drug harmful falling by as much as 40 percent, despite evidence that that the use of cannabis is harmful to health and not only, especially for regular users. Over 1.5 million people in Central Asia and the South Caucasus are estimated to have used cannabis at least once in the past year.

It is estimated that more than 11 million people inject drugs worldwide, half of whom are living with hepatitis C. Opioids continue to account for the largest number of drug use-related illnesses.

Dark web drug markets emerged just a decade ago, but today the largest of them has annual sales of at least $315 million. Although this is only a small part of total drug sales, there is an upward trend, with a fourfold increase between 2011 and mid-2017 and between mid-2017 and 2020.

Overall, the 2021 World Drug Report provides a global overview of the supply and demand for opiates, cocaine, cannabis, amphetamine-type stimulants and new psychoactive substances (NPS), and their impact on health, taking into account the possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the meeting, the Director of CARICC, Mr. Miralizoda R.A., spoke, who emphasized the symbolism and significance of the presentation of the Report on the background of the celebration of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking - June 26.

Attention is drawn to the negative impact on the global drug situation of various negative processes taking place today.

Under these conditions, for all countries of the world community, United Nations research, reflected in the World Drug Report, is of priority importance, which allows:

- timely determine the general directions for the implementation of a unified and balanced drug policy;

- establish effective state and social control over the development of the drug situation;

- progressively seek its stabilization and limit the negative impact on the state of internal and external security of countries, the health and well-being of citizens.

It was noted that the internal anti-drug policy of the CARICC member states is based on improving the effectiveness of drug prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts, combating drug trafficking, strengthening interagency cooperation, with the active involvement of public institutions.

Special attention was paid to the situation in Afghanistan and the location of the CARICC member states on the "Northern Route" of Afghan opiate trafficking.

At the same time, the importance of developing common approaches to assessing the volume of heroin trafficking along this route was emphasized, and the readiness of the Center for open cooperation in this direction was confirmed.

Trends in the drug situation over the past year in the CARICC member states are characterized by an increase in the volume of seized drugs - by almost 22%, the amount of seized heroin - by 82% and opium - by 41.5%, the number of detained foreign citizens - by 19% and facts of drug smuggling - by almost 32%.

In this regard, CARICC, being one of the most significant projects of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Central Asia, within the framework of its mandate, provides assistance, coordination and support to the efforts of the countries of the region in the fight against drug trafficking.

In modern conditions of the development of the drug situation, the development of optimal measures in the analysis and forecasting of the drug situation is of particular relevance. In this regard, the World Drug Report 2021 will set the stage for further joint efforts in the fight against trafficking, both at the regional and international levels.