Pakistani drug users consume $1.2b of heroin a year: UN

Pakistanis consume $1.2 billion worth of heroin every year, 1.8% of a global market of over $65 billion, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Data on Pakistani drug consumption was released as part of the 2011 World Drug Report, the UNODP’s flagship publication which compares global production, consumption, trafficking and prices of several different types of drugs, including opium/heroin, coca/cocaine, amphetamine-type stimulants and cannabis.

The report states that Pakistan’s geographic location makes it vulnerable to the threat of drug usage and trafficking since Afghanistan produces almost 90% of the world’s opium and heroin, of which almost 40% is trafficked through Pakistan, or over 35% of the global total.

According to a statement by the UNODC, the fact that poppy growing Afghan provinces – Helmand, Kandahar and Nimroz – neighbour Pakistan, it makes the country a lucrative trafficking route for Afghan opiates.

“Pakistan is particularly vulnerable to the trafficking of Afghan opiates and this poses a burden on public health, criminal justice and security systems,” said Jeremy Douglas, UNODC Representative in Pakistan.