Amphetamine use in Asia and Middle East increasing
Use of Amphetamines is increasing in parts of Asia and the Middle East, according to the United Nations.
This stands in contrast to the United States where the use of amphetamines such as ecstasy has remained fairly stable over the last several years.
Asia is still driving demand, with nearly half the region’s countries reporting increases in methamphetamine use.
But the most dramatic shift has been in the Middle East, where seizures of amphetamine-type stimulants accounted for a staggering 25 percent of the global total in 2005-2006, up from just 1 percent in 2000-2001, the U.N. said.
The largest market in that region was Saudi Arabia, a trend apparently linked in part to a growing number of migrant workers, with more than 12 tons of amphetamines seized two years ago.
