European authorities are concerned about the effects of amphetamine consumption on consumers and the environment. According to the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and Europol, the production of the most common synthetic stimulants has become more complex and has led to a regular market, which now moves over a billion euros every year.
Europe and the Middle East are the regions that produce and consume most of the world’s amphetamines, each with its own unique characteristics. In the first case, the stimulant is consumed in the form of powder and paste, in the Middle East it is used in the form of tablets, which are presented as captagon, but not really.
Captagon is a prescription drug that was banned in the 80s because it was so addictive that it is well known in the region. Countries such as Syria and Lebanon began producing amphetamines under that name – the ingredients are similar – capitalizing on its popularity, created thanks to the euphoria and energy it provides to those who take it.
This Monday, the European Medicines and Police Cooperation Agency published an analysis of the production and trafficking processes of this synthetic drug, indicating that traditional production methods have been simplified and sophisticated in recent years by reducing the use of chemicals and equipment. This simplification has an obvious benefit: it increases profitability.
The evolution of this illegal market led to the emergence of new laboratories. This is because there are many cases where the final product is not finished in the labs where amphetamine is synthesized, but is exported as a base oil and converted into amphetamine sulfate in these “substitute labs”. Between 2019 and 2021, 337 illegal amphetamine production sites will be dismantled in the European Union (EU).
The spread of these “alternative labs” is one of the main fears regarding the evolution of the amphetamine market. There are indications that amphetamine base oil is trafficked to other Member States of the Union (Belgium and the Netherlands). It is these countries with the highest production, price and purity.
“The story of amphetamines is the story of chemical engineering,” EMCDDA expert Rita Jorge tells PÚBLICO. This chemist and amphetamine expert explains that the production of these drugs involves “professional operations with reactors similar to chemical factories.” He continues, an industry experienced in producing large quantities in small and remote locations, and with appropriate equipment. “They use a basic process of organic chemistry Lugard”, he concludes.
More production, more power
In this context, we cannot rule out the possibility that this drug will be produced in even greater capacity in the future and that its production will increase along with the demand for captagon in the Arabian Peninsula, fueling the fears of the two European agencies. In practice, the expansion of the amphetamine market will have detrimental effects on the EU, both in terms of its production and trafficking through its main ports.
“Although its market is relatively stable, we should not underestimate the impact that medicine has on the health and safety of Europeans”, highlighted Alexis Coosteil, director of the EMCDDA. Amphetamines, he insists, don’t just affect those who take them. Its impact is high on communities and its production causes significant environmental damage, with consequences for public health. Coosteel highlights: Every kilogram of amphetamine produced creates nearly 40 kilograms of chemical waste, which is dumped into soil and water.
Catherine de Bolle, Executive Director of Europol confirms: “The synthetic drug market moves billions of euros every year and its production is becoming more sophisticated”. Distribution networks are smarter, drugs are more harmful, and “large amounts of toxic chemical waste generated by chemical synthesis are released into nature, endangering public health and safety,” says De Boll.
The agencies feel that it is necessary to improve the exchange of information about the nuances of production and distribution, to control its expansion. This means exchanging operational and strategic information, guiding criminal interventions, controlling flows of precursors and essential chemicals in the production of amphetamines, sometimes “legal structures, acquired or infiltrated for illegal purposes”.
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