Ephedra has been implicated in the production of methamphetamine in Afghanistan, but the phenomenon is still not well understood

Overall, indicators point to the increasing production and trafficking of methamphetamine out of or around Afghanistan. Signs of domestic manufacture may have started as early as 2013 when seizures originating in Afghanistan started to be reported in Iran. Over the past five years, the evidence of emerging methamphetamine manufacture in Afghanistan has become more definitive with clandestine laboratories in the country’s western and southern provinces and reports of rising seizures amounts in and around Afghanistan. Additionally, methamphetamine use in Afghanistan has also been increasing. According to one recent drug use survey of adolescents carried out in 2020, the past-year prevalence of methamphetamine was comparable to heroin, 1.8 versus 1.3 percent of those aged 13-18, respectively.

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Good Health and Well-Being