Azernews.Az

A total of 21,000 drug addicts are registered in Azerbaijan but the actual figure is 8-10 times higher, says the country manager of the European Union-funded South Caucasus Anti-Drug (SCAD) program.
Mazahir Afandiyev told a conference on the role of the media in preventing drug addiction Thursday that the statistics available is mainly compiled based on the estimates of persons applying for medical aid and those who are overseen by law-enforcement agencies.
Afandiyev said the drug addiction problem was an issue for Azerbaijan, which is located at the crossroads of the East-West transit routes. He expressed disappointment with the increasing use of narcotics in the country. The availability of various types of drugs in the shadow market has reduced the age of drug-dependent persons. Whereas mostly people aged between 25 and 35 were prone to drug addiction in the past, the age has now gone down to 18.
Afandiyev said that according to research by SCAD and the UN Development Program, the tendency of drug use among students nowadays is increasing.
The program coordinator emphasized that most of the drugs are delivered to Azerbaijan from abroad, as domestic growing and production of narcotics is limited. Consistent steps being taken by law enforcers to crack down on criminal groups engaged in drug trafficking continue to produce results, he said.
The highest rate of crimes committed under the influence of drugs is observed in the biggest cities - Baku, Ganja and Sumgayit - as well as Lankaran in the south. These cities are followed by the towns of Guba, Shaki, Gazakh, Shirvan and Yevlakh.
About 200 million people become addicted to drugs in the world every year. Sales of narcotics fetch annual profits to the tune of $400 billion, or 8 per cent of global trade.