Between July 2010 to July 2011, there were 45 deaths in the State of Florida that was caused by heroin. In the 2011 to 2012 time period, the number of deaths in the state due to heroin-related causes increased to 77, according to the Medical Examiner Commission.
In the first three moths of 2013, state law enforcement officers handled 948 criminal charges that dealt with heroin, compared to 772 charges in the first three months of 2012.
Admissions for heroin abuse at drug treatment centers also saw an increase. In 2012, there was 316 admissions for heroin abuse in Broward County, an 87 percent increase from the 169 admissions the year before. In Miami-Dade County, the number of heroin admissions increased from 227 to 308 in the first half of 2012.
Police and drug rehab experts attribute the rise in heroin use due to the crackdown on the black market in prescription drugs. Florida previously lead the nation in prescription drug abuse, with up to 7 people a day overdosing on pills in the state.
Source: Audra D.S. Burch, “As pill mills fade away, heroin fills the void,” Miami Herald, May 11, 2013.
An estimated 3.3 million people across the East Asia and Pacific region consume heroin on an annual basis. In China, an estimated 2,366,000 people used heroin in 2010, followed by Indonesia with 247,000 users, Vietnam with 155,000 heroin users, and Myanmar with 100,000 users.
In 2011, up to 65 tons of pure heroin was believed to have been consumed across the region.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that the heroin market in the region is worth $16.3 Billion.
Source: “Transnational Organized Crime in East Asia and the Pacific: A Threat Assessment,” UNODC, April 2013, Executive Summary, page vi.
From January to September 2012, security agencies in the Republic of Kosovo seized 1,091 kilograms of marijuana, 51.5 kilograms of heroin, 7.2 kilograms of cocaine, and 153 ecstasy tablets. The amount of illegal drugs seized in 2012 was higher than the amount of drugs seized in 2011.
Officials estimate that most drug users in the country are men between the ages of 18 to 35 who smoke marijuana.
Source: Menekse Tokyay, “Turkey and Balkans battle drug trafficking,” SETimes.com, April 22, 2013.
In 2012, opium grown in Afghanistan accounted for 75 percent of heroin used around the world. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime forecasts that in 2013, Afghan opium will account for 90 percent of the world’s heroin market.
Out of the 34 provinces in the country, opium cultivation increased in 12 of them in 2012. Areas where cultivation has increased dramatically is where United States troops were stationed. Over 70 percent of the opium cultivation takes place in three provinces where the American surge took place.
Source: Rod Nordland, “Production of Opium by Afghans Is Up Again,” New York Times, April 15, 2013.
Security officials in Mexico eradicated 40 percent more poppy crops than marijuana crops in 2012.
12,347 hectares of poppy was eradicated in 2012, compared to 8,670 hectares of marijuana. Back in 2007, marijuana was being destroyed at a 50 percent rate higher than poppy, with 22,965 hectares of marijuana destroyed compared to 11,393 hectares of poppy.
In the decrease in the trafficking of marijuana has also been dropping when looking at the seizure rates. In 2007, authorities seized 2,068 tons of marijuana in 2007, and 1,154 tons in 2012. Heroin seizures rose from 124 kilos in 2007 to 3,716 kilos in 2012.
7 percent of the world heroin market is supplied by Mexico.
(See prices of marijuana per gram.)
Source: Marguerite Cawley “40% More Poppy Grown in Mexico than Marijuana: Govt,” Insight Crime, April 3, 2013.
Law enforcement agencies in Vietnam investigated nearly 31,400 cases of black market smuggling in 2012. The value of the illicit goods was worth $21 Million (440 Billion Vietnamese Dong).
Between November 2012 to the end of February 2013, authorities arrested 11 pirates from Indonesia, 46 heroin traffickers, confiscated nearly 800 ecstasy pills, 24 kilograms of explosive materials, and nearly 5,800 tons of iron ore from smugglers.
Source: ”Anti-smuggling inspections to increase in border regions,” Vietnam Net Bridge, April 3, 2013.
The Government of Iran spends up to $1 Billion a year in anti-narcotics operations such as border patrol and combating drug traffickers.
During the Nowruz New Year Hoidays in March 2013, security officials detained over 1,200 men and 19 women for drug trafficking activities.
Source: ”Iran’s border police cracking down on drug smuggling,” Press TV, April 3, 2013.
690 tons of opium was grown in Myanmar in 2012. According to security officials in the country, the value of the opium was worth $359 Million on the global drug market.
There are around 256,000 households in Myanmar who are involved in poppy cultivation.
Source: Charlie Campbell, “Obstacles Ahead in Burma’s Opium War,” Time, March 19, 2013.
The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) reported that there were 298,752 users of heroin and crack cocaine in England during the 2010-2011 time period. The number of those two drugs were lower than the 332,090 users in 2005-2006.
The number of heroin and crack cocaine users entering drug treatment programs was 47,210. Back in 2006, there were 64,288 users entering treatment programs.
In the 2009 to 2010 period, there were 306,150 users of heroin and crack cocaine in England.
Source: Alan Travis, “Number of heroin and crack cocaine users falls to record low, figures show,” Guardian, March 6, 2013.
Representatives with the Ministry of Counter-Narcotics in Afghanistan estimate that there were over 1.5 million adults in the country who were regularly used drugs. Back in 2005, there were an estimated 920,000 drug users in Afghanistan.
25 percent of homes that had adult drug use was found to have exposed young children.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime states that no other country in the world produces as much heroin, opium and hashish as Afghanistan.
Source: Cesar Chelala, “Afghanistan’s legacy of child opium addiction,” Japan Times, Opinion, March 1, 2013.
