A patrol of the Medenine customs guard seized on Thursday 3 October, 37 thousand narcotic tablets, type Pregabalin 300 mg. According to a statement from the General Directorate of Customs, the narcotic tablets are hidden inside an unmarked 4*4 car in the Dhahar region of Beni Khdech.
The value of the seized products is estimated at around 850 thousand dinars including the means of transport. A report is drawn up for this purpose and the file has already been transmitted to the public prosecutor.
Cannabis, the most widely used drug in the world
In 2020 it was used by 209 million people (15-64 years), or 4% of the world’s population in this age group. It should be noted that past year prevalence of use has increased by 8 percent since 2010, while the number of users has increased by 23 percent since then, partly due to population growth.
In its annual World Drug Report published on 27 July 2022, the UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) took stock of the spread of the most prevalent psychotropic substances and drugs.
Use of amphetamine-type stimulants
This drug affected 34 million people in 2020 (15-64 years old), or 0.7 percent of the world’s population. The global estimate of use is similar to what it was in 2010 (33 million), yet these figures are likely to be underestimated due to a lack of data from various Asian countries where use is high, even though seizure figures suggest an expansion of use in the last decade.
Cocaine and ecstasy
The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have temporarily halted the increase in the use of cocaine and ecstasy-type drugs, apparently due to the mandatory closure of entertainment and public venues.
Despite this pause in 2020, various indicators show that cocaine use has resumed in 2021, with a long-term increase. In 2020, about 21.5 million people used the drug at least once in the past year. Global cocaine production reached a new record in 2020 with 1,982 tons of pure cocaine, an 11% increase over the previous year.
Opioids
Opioid use remains at a high level, with a slight increase since 2017. For the year 2020, an estimated 61.3 million people worldwide used opioids in the past year. This figure includes people who use opiates (mainly heroin and opium) and those who use opioid drugs for non-medical purposes.
The availability of opioid analgesics for medical purposes over doubled between 2000 and 2010 before declining by 15% between 2012 and 2019. This decrease is mainly related to the tightening of prescription and surveillance policies by US government agencies.
