GUEST COLUMN: ANTONIO MARIA COSTA

Around the world, in order to enhance performance, people are popping
pills and powder known as amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS). From
ravers at all-night discos to assembly-line workers or long-haul
truckers, more than 30 million people use amphetamine, methamphetamine
(meth), or Ecstasy at least once a year - more than the combined
number of those who take cocaine and heroin. The global market is
estimated at $65 billion.

Part of the attraction of these synthetic drugs is that they are
readily available, affordable and convenient to use (no need to shoot
up, snort, or smoke). Amphetamines speed up the way the body works:
users experience increased confidence, sociability and energy. But
what goes up must come down. People who become dependent on "uppers"
may suffer paranoia, kidney failure and internal bleeding, and even
serious mental health problems, brain damage, or heart attack.

After substantial increases in the 1990s - when meth was considered
public enemy number one in the United States - the use of synthetic
drugs has stabilised in North America, Europe, Australia and New
Zealand, albeit at high levels.

Evidence suggests that the problem is shifting to new markets in east
and south-east Asia, and the near and Middle East. Asia, with its huge
population and increasing affluence, is driving demand. In 2006,
almost half of Asian countries reported an increase in meth use. This
year, more than half of China's provinces had serious ATS-related problems.

The upsurge is not limited to Asia. Something strange is going on in
Saudi Arabia. Last year, the kingdom seized almost 14 tonnes of
amphetamine, mostly in the form known as Captagon (probably
manufactured in south-east Europe). That's a quarter of all
amphetamines seized in the world. In South Africa, the number of
seized meth laboratories has consistently gone up for the past five
years, while domestic consumption has increased.

For societies in transition or going through rapid modernisation,
synthetic drugs seem to be a by-product of hyperactive growth. The
shift is also due to a strong supply push from increasingly aggressive
criminal groups with tentacles around the world.

A decade ago, synthetic drugs were a do-it-yourself cottage industry.
The ingredients for meth, for example, are readily available, recipes
are easy to obtain and batches of the drug can be cooked up in a
kitchen. But in the past few years, the production of ATS has become a
big global business. Organised crime is taking over all aspects of
this illicit trade, from smuggling precursor chemicals to
manufacturing and trafficking the drugs. Increasingly sophisticated
labs are being discovered in, for example, Indonesia and Malaysia. In
2007 alone, 75 ATS labs were seized in China.

Before it is too late, countries in the developing world need to get
their heads out of the sand. Many are in denial about the problem. The
most vulnerable are ill-equipped to fight the pandemic through
information gathering, regulatory frameworks, law enforcement,
forensics, or health care.

Stabilisation of the problem in the developed world shows that
containment is possible. But unless more attention and resources are
devoted to prevention, treatment and law enforcement in youthful and
increasingly affluent societies in the developing world, these
countries may soon be facing a similar epidemic of drug abuse.

. Antonio Maria Costa is executive director of the UN Office on Drugs
and Crime.