Annual police report: Methamphetamine threat ravages Turkey

Duvar English

The Anti-Narcotics Department of the General Directorate of Security on Sept. 5 released the 2024 Turkey Narcotics Report, revealing data that sheds light on the growing drug problem in the country.

Journalist Tolga Şardan from the online news outlet T24 shared that the report was released latter than the normal date, which has been usually early summer, due to the changes in the administration of the police forces and rewriting process coming after that.

Another report prepared by the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Directorate has not been published although it was ready, according to the reporter.

The anti-narcotics report emphasized the importance of Turkey's strategic geographical location in terms of drug trafficking and stated that the threat posed by synthetic drugs has continued to increase in recent years.

According to the report, while authorities seized 16.2 tonnes of methamphetamine in 2022, this amount increased by 35.5% to 21.9 tonnes in 2023. In the world, 367 tonnes of methamphetamine was seized with a 7% decrease compared to 2022.

The report noted, "The sharp increase in methamphetamine seizures in our country that began in 2019 continued in the following years of 2020, 2021, and 2022, reaching the highest seizure amount in the country's history in 2023."

In April 2022, the Taliban's most senior leader, Haybatullah Akunzadeh, issued a fatwa that opium cultivation was strictly forbidden in the country. In parallel with this ban, the amount of heroin seized in Turkey dropped sharply.

While 22.2 tonnes of heroin were seized in 2021, this amount dropped to 7.97 tonnes in 2022. In 2023, the downward trend continued and a total of 3.3 tonnes of heroin was seized in Turkey.

The seizures of cannabis, one of the most widely used drugs in the world and in Turkey, increased by 23% to 77.9 tonnes in 2023. On the other hand, the amount of root cannabis seizures in 2023 increased by 43.6% compared to the previous year.

The report also raised concerns about new psychoactive substances (NPS) and devoted a special chapter to them. In 2023, the amount of synthetic cannabinoids seized almost doubled compared to the previous year. While 1.056 tonnes of synthetic cannabinoids were caught in 2022, it increased nearly two tonnes in 2023.

Methamphetamine found in 148 of 300 direct substance-related deaths

In 2013, there were 232 direct substance-related deaths, which increased by 306% to 941 in 2017. From 2018 onwards, substance-related deaths began to decrease, and this downward trend continued until 2022. However, in 2023, there was a 22% increase from the previous year, reaching 300 deaths. From 2017 to 2023, a 68% decrease was recorded.

In 2023, 61.6% of drug-related deaths were due to multiple substance use. The average age of those who died was 35. Deaths among those under 30 years old accounted for 34.3% (down from 35.4% in 2022), while 35.0% were between the ages of 30-39, and 30.3% were over 40.

The police report stated, "It is necessary to address deaths caused by methamphetamine, which has posed a significant threat to our society in recent years, under a separate heading." 

Methamphetamine was detected in 148 of the 300 direct substance-related deaths. In 2023, methamphetamine was found in 53.5% of the 185 deaths caused by multiple substance use. Additionally, among the 49 deaths caused by single substance use, 42.6% were attributed to methamphetamine.

In Turkey, the presence of methamphetamine in overdose deaths increased from 7.7% in 2017, when overdose deaths were at their highest, to 46.3% in 2023. Deaths solely attributed to methamphetamine rose from 0.3% in 2017 to 42.6% in 2023.

The rate of admissions for methamphetamine treatment, which was 3.5% in 2016, surged to 37.1% by 2023.

In 2023, the total number of applications to outpatient treatment centers was 349,393, while the number of applications to inpatient treatment centers was 16,291.