A report from the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) has revealed that Asia, and Southeast Asia in particular, manufacturers more illegal drugs than any other region in the world.
Not only is Asia home to the second-largest opium poppy fields on the planet, the region also accounted for a full 50% of 2010’s international amphetamine seizures. And in 2011, the number of seizures only continued to grow.
The INCB’s report pointed out that Southeast Asia in particular, thanks to political instability and growing public demand, served as a hotbed for methamphetamine manufacturing.
A silver lining (sort of) is that North America remains the world’s largest consumer of illicit substances, and the world’s foremost practitioner of drug-related violence.
In its report on the INCB’s findings, the Bangkok Post mentioned that codeine-based cough syrups and other opiates were becoming prevalent in the region in addition to methamphetamines.
