ULSACUNMUN

2020

BACKGROUND GUIDE

“Time for a change”

UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

“Illicit Production in the Golden Crescent and the Golden Triangle of ”

Dear Delegates,

Welcome to ULSACUNMUN 2020! my name is Luciano Navarrete and I am very glad to be part of this year’s model as the president of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, at the same time, I am excited to see your debating abilities. I know that having this position is a huge responsibility and that it involves a lot of effort and research which is why I will do my best as I know you will too.

I am 16 years old and I am a freshman at Universidad La Salle Cancun, in my free time I usually hang out with my friends or spend time with my family. But the thing I love the most is traveling, so I can experience new cultures, landscapes, and adventures. I have been in two UN models as a delegate, on my first model I was a delegate in this committee and on my second model I was a delegate in General Assembly, but this year I have taken the challenge of representing the UNODC committee as its president. I think of MUN as an opportunity to develop new skills of communication, diplomacy, leadership as well as speech abilities. Being in MUN has helped me in my confidence and has also made me realize the different situations happening around the world that require our immediate attention. Delegate, my team and I expect the best from you which is why I strongly recommend you to take your time not only investigating your country’s position but to also investigate our country box so you can reach a resolution in the most justness way.

I look forward in meeting you the day of the conference and as I said before, my team and I are sure that you will do your best in writing your position paper and during the debate but if you come up with any doubts, please do not hesitate in sending a mail to us. I wish you the best of lucks and I will see you soon! Sincerely, Luciano Ibrahim Navarrete Azueta United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) [email protected] Contact with the Secretariat: [email protected] COMMITTEE DESCRIPTION

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is a global leader in the fight against illicit drugs and international crime. Established in 1997 through a merger between the United Nations Drug Control Programme and the Centre for International Crime Prevention, UNODC operates in all regions of the world through an extensive network of field offices. UNODC relies on voluntary contributions, mainly from Governments, for 90 per cent of its budget.

UNODC is mandated to assist Member States in their struggle against illicit drugs, crime and terrorism. In the Millennium Declaration, Member States also resolved to intensify efforts to fight transnational crime in all its dimensions, to redouble the efforts to implement the commitment to counter the world drug problem and to take concerted action against international terrorism.

INTRODUCTION

Opioids, sometimes called narcotics, are a type of drug that includes the illegal drug , synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, and many others.

The main reason why people use them for non-medical reasons is that they give the consumers, the feeling of being very relaxed and “high”. However, opioids can be highly addictive and result in an overdose.

Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, better known as the Golden Triangle and , and , better known as the Golden Crescent, are Asia’s biggest areas of opium production since the ‘90s and have been considered by the UN to be the main sources of supply to other countries around the world.

The drug trafficking in these countries has originated wars for territory, money, and transport routes for the opium. These wars have resulted in massive casualties, destruction, tension, and instability from the cartels of the region. This may be attributed to the increase of intercepted merchandise that has being seized by the government or other cartels. This situation is not only of concern for the countries involved but also to the neighboring countries and the countries to which they distribute the drugs to, since they are sometimes affected by the repercussions.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The Golden Triangle and Golden Crescent are mountainous forested areas where opium production is concentrated. They are known to be the largest areas of opium cultivation since the 1950s.

The opium cultivation in the Golden Triangle plummed in the late 1990s due to the rise of the Golden Crescent, but in December 2015 the United Nations reported that opium production in the Golden Triangle had tripled since 2006, with the illegal drugs trade in the region worth $16.3 billion with 762 tonnes of opium produced in 2014, making about 76 tonnes of heroin (Moodley, 2015). This increase in production is due to better transport infrastructure, new routes, as well as an increasing number of heroin consumers.

Since the 1980s, the Golden Crescent has emerged as one of the major players in the global markets of opium and heroin alongside the Golden Triangle.

Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan (the Golden Crescent) have battled many challenges, including political turmoil, economic instability, war, and terrorism. These forces have influenced the growth and expansion of the opium and heroin trade within the region and have had implications for an epidemic of injection drug use, rising incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) when injecting heroin, through contaminated syringes and needles. At the end of 2009 opium consumers in these countries rose to 1.58 million people.

CURRENT SITUATION

Opioids are a major concern in many countries because of the severe health consequences associated with their use. For example, in 2017, the use of opioids accounted for 110,000 (66 per cent) of the 167,000 deaths attributed to drug use disorders (Fedotov, 2019). According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 2019 World Drug Report, 53.4 million people consumed opioids in 2017.

From the estimated 450 tons of heroin that enter the illicit global drug market annually, approximately 380 tons of heroin are produced from Afghan opium. This massive distribution is due to trafficking routes such as the “Balkan Route”, “Southern Route”, and the “Northern Route”. These routes have an annual market value of approximately USD 41 billion.

According to a UNODC report, in the Golden Triangle, opium continues to be produced in the north of and Laos with over 60,000 hectares under cultivation producing 20% of the global opium supply. It has been discovered that the most influential factor for farmers to cultivate opium is poverty since most of them are in difficult living conditions, food insecurity, households in debt, and poor infrastructure and accessibility to market, nevertheless, opium is not only cultivated by farmers because it provides them a means of subsistence in the face of poverty, but also because it is quicker and easier its harvest compared to other crops. Nowadays the Golden Triangle is earning billions of dollars annually.

In hope to reduce the opium production, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and China launched a programme to curb the illegal trafficking in 2015. Thailand now hosts the Safe Mekong Co-ordination Centre (SMCC) in Chiang Mai town, which helps coordinate investigations between the four nations. Between January and March of 2015, the programme reported nearly 600 arrests along with solving 590 drug-related cases. (Moodley, INDEPENDENT, 2015)

Since heroin is a type of opioid that is administrated by injecting it, it is possible to get infected with HIV. The 2016 World Drug Report informed that out of 4.67 million people in Asia who injected heroin that year, 12.5% contracted HIV and out of 12 million people that injected drugs globally the same year, 1.6 million people are living with HIV. The main factor by which people may get an HIV transmission is sharing needles; if a needle has been used by an infected person to inject heroin and it is shared with someone else, the risk of that person to get infected is very high since the needle still carries the blood of the person with HIV.

Nowadays, there are many campaigns and organizations that help people with HIV due to drugs, for example, The Opioid agonist therapy (OAT) which overall objective is to limit exposure to needle sharing, reduce the consumption of illicit opioids, and the cravings for opioid drugs.

Since opioids can be highly addictive, people have the risk to overdose, causing a respiratory depression that can lead to death; this is because the effect of the opiate affects the part of the brain that regulates breathing.

Of the 53 million people who consumed opioids, 450,000 died as a result of an overdose. Of those deaths, about 118,000 were directly associated with opioid use disorders. Nevertheless, there are effective treatments for opioid dependence, yet, less than 10% of people who need such treatment are receiving it.

COUNTRY BOX

• Afghanistan • Cambodia • Canada • China • France • India • Iran • Italy • Laos • Mexico • Myanmar • New Zealand • North Korea • Pakistan • Russia • Thailand • Turkey • United Kingdom • United States of America • Vietnam

GUIDE QUESTIONS

1. Statistically speaking, how many people consume opioids in your country?

2. What measures has your country taken in order to reduce the number of overdoses caused by opioids?

3. Does your country profits illegally from the production of opium?

4. Does your country have organizations to help people infected with HIV due to drugs?

5. In what aspects has your country being affected due to the opium trafficking?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. WHO. Information sheet on opioid overdose. (2018, August 21). Retrieved January 12, 2020, from https://www.who.int/substance_abuse/information-sheet/en/.

2. Nancy, N. (2009, January 6). United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Retrieved January 12, 2020, from https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/drug-trafficking-in-the- golden-triangle.html.

3. Strober, S. (2018, February 21). Black Gold: Curbing Demand for Drugs in the Golden Triangle. Retrieved January 12, 2020, from https://thepolitic.org/black-gold-curbing-demand-for-drugs-in-the- golden-triangle/.

4. UNODC. Opium poppy cultivation in 'Golden Triangle' hits new high in 2014 – UN report | UN News. (2014, December 8). Retrieved January 12, 2020, from https://news.un.org/en/story/2014/12/485662- opium-poppy-cultivation-golden-triangle-hits-new-high-2014-un-report.

5. Kiran Moodley @kirancmoodley, K. (2015, March 11). Welcome to the centre of the world's drug trafficking. Retrieved January 12, 2020, from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/welcome-to-the- golden-triangle-the-centre-of-the-worlds-drug-trafficking- 10100420.html.