National Amphetamine-Type Stimulant Strategy Background Paper: Monograph Series No. 69
Chapter 2 Setting the Context
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) World Drug Report 2007 noted an overall stabilisation of the amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) market worldwide. The increases found in production and demand throughout the 1990s appears to have leveled off, and this was attributed to improved efforts to monitor and control precursor chemicals. The Report stated that the largest production areas for methamphetamine remained in South East Asia and in North America, while both amphetamine and ecstasy production are primarily located in Europe. ATS continued to be the second most widely consumed drug group, after cannabis, with an estimated 25 million people worldwide using ATS (including ecstasy) in the previous 12 months over the 2005-06 period. Of these persons, an estimated 63% used methamphetamine, 16% used amphetamine, and 21% used other amphetamine and diverted licit amphetamine. In 2005, the highest prevalent rates for methamphetamine were in the Philippines, followed by Australia. Annual prevalence of amphetamine was highest in the Oceania region and Australia reported the highest rate within this region.
