The global drug trade exhibits striking regional differences, with varying drug preferences across different parts of the world. However, a common thread unites these regions: The pervasive rise of synthetic drugs.
Synthetic drugs are the future of drug trafficking. Plant-based drugs, such as cocaine, heroin and marijuana — drugs that require control of large swaths of land and a favorable climate — are out. Synthetic drugs, which can be manufactured anywhere with a little bit of money and some chemical know-how, are in.
What started as the opioid crisis in the U.S. has taken the world by storm. And no one is safe. Earlier this month, the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency released its annual threat assessment of serious and organized crime, noting ominously that “there has never been a more dangerous time to take drugs.” This is due in large part to a rise of drugs like “nitazenes” — a synthetic opioid that can be as much as 50 times stronger than fentanyl.
Those drugs have contributed to a 60 percent increase in drug-related fatalities, a trend that seems likely to continue given Afghanistan’s ban on poppy cultivation, a key source of heroin for the UK and Europe.
As the UK faces a surge in nitazenes, Africa grapples with a different but equally alarming trend. The emergence of “kush” — a terrifying blend of cannabis, synthetic drugs like fentanyl and........