Seizures cannabis

The effects of cannabis on seizures is, at best, unpredictable. Although some cannabinoids have antiseizure effects, tolerance rapidly develops. Further, rebound hyperexcitability following THC administration may render these benefits impractical. Indeed, cannabinoids facilitate seizures and kindling in many studies. Certain isolated cannabinoids may eventually prove useful for treating seizures, but cannabis as a whole is not effective. In light of this, individuals with epilepsy are strongly recommended to avoid cannabis. 

Herbal cannabis seizures, in contrast, were down in 2005, a trend seen across continents. The reasons for this decline are due to increased eradication and are occurring in the context of stabilised demand and may be related to decreased transnational trafficking due to a growing reliance on domestic cultivation. Cannabis resin seizures were also down, but this can be directly tied to the decline in hashish production in Morocco. 

Cannabis herb seizures continue to be mainly concentrated in North America (66% of global seizures in 2005), followed by Africa (16%). Global seizures of cannabis herb showed a strong increase over the 2000-2004 period, a probable reflection of rising cannabis... 

Global cannabis resin seizures also declined in 2005 due to lower production of cannabis resin in Morocco. The world s largest cannabis resin seizures continued to be reported by Spain (52% of global hashish seizures in 2005), followed by Pakistan (7%) and Morocco... 

Trafficking in cannabis resin, 2005 (countries reporting seizures of more than 10 kg)... 

More than half (57 %) of all seizure cases involved cannabis (herb, resin, oil, plants and seeds). Opiates (opium, morphine, heroin, synthetic opiates and poppy seeds), accounted for 17 per cent, with heroin alone accounting for 14 per cent of the total. This is followed by seizures of the amphetamine-type stimulants (12 %). About half of these seizures (or 5.5 % of the total) is accounted for by methamphetamine, followed by amphetamine (2.5 %) and ecstasy (2%) the rest (2 %) includes Captagon tablets (Near East) and Maxiton Forte (Egypt), ephedrone (methcathinone) and various undefined amphetamines. Coca products account for 9 percent of global seizure cases the bulk of coca related seizure cases concern cocaine (8 % of total). 

The largest seizures worldwide are for cannabis (herb and then resin), followed by cocaine, the opiates and ATS. All cannabis related seizures amounted to more than 9,700 mt in 2005, including 5,947 mt for cannabis end products (herb, resin and oil). Cocaine seizures amounted to 752 mt, opiate seizures, expressed in heroin equivalents, amounted to 125 mt and ATS seizures (methamphetamine, amphetamine, non-defined amphetamines and ecstasy) amounted to 43 mt. 

In units terms, more than half of all seizures (59 %) are cannabis, followed by coca related substances (24 %), opiates (12 %) and amphetamine-type stimulants (4%). While cannabis leads the table, irrespective of the measurement used, it may be interesting to note that in terms of drug units seized, cocaine ranks second. In terms of... 

The pervasiveness of cannabis persists. Between 1995-2005, 82 countries provided UNODC with cannabis cultivation or production estimates. Unfortunately, reporting on cannabis cultivation is complex and resource intensive for a number of reasons and many countries do not have the capacity or resources ot make estimations. Consequently, UNODC also analyses seizure reports which sometimes identify the source of cannabis trafficked in a country. On this basis, 134 pro-... 

Cannabis resin consists of the secretions of the plant emitted in the flowering phase of its development. Depending on the region, cannabis resin is known as hashish (North Africa / Europe) or as charas (South-Asia). It accounted for close to 23 per cent of global cannabis seizures in 2005. 

Cannabis oil (hashish oil) is an oily mixture resulting from extraction or distillation of THC rich parts of the cannabis plant. It is less widely used, accounting for 0.01 per cent of all cannabis seizures in 2005. 

C 146 countries reporting the seizure of whole cannabis plants... 

There estimates were, inter alia, based on seizures of, on average, 1.1 million cannabis plants per year see Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Drug Situation in Canada in 2003, Ottawa, July 2004 see also National Drug Intelligence Centre, National Drug Threat Assessment 2005> Feb. 

Geographically, the production of cannabis resin is far more concentrated than production of cannabis herb. The world s largest cannabis resin producer continues to be Morocco, supplying the illicit markets of North Africa and Western Europe. Western Europe is the world s largest market for cannabis resin, accounting for some 70 per cent of global resin seizures in 2005 North Africa accounts for another 8 per cent. 

Which are based on extrapolating the results from Moroccan cannabis resin production data and extrapolating global resin production from herb production estimates with the help of seizure statistics... 

Estimate based on Moroccan cannabis resin production 2005 and seizures ... 

Seizures in tons (2005) Estimated proportion of seizures related to cannabis resin originating in Morocco Estimated proportion from 2005 harvest Potential seizures in tons related to Moroccan cannabis resin production in 2005 Cannabis resin production estimates... 

Seizures of both cannabis herb and resin decline in... 

Cannabis products remained the most widely trafficked drugs worldwide in 2005, accounting for 57 per cent of all global seizure cases (856,000 out of 1.5 million). Practically all countries in the world are affected by cannabis trafficking. Out of 165 countries and territories which reported seizures to UNODC, 99 per cent reported seizures of cannabis. 

Cannabis herb seizures amounted to 4,600 mt and cannabis resin seizures to 1,300 mt in 2005. Small quantities of cannabis oil (700 litres) were also seized. Seizures of all three products declined in 2005 as compared to a year earlier, thus reversing the upward trend observed until 2004. Herb seizures dropped by 35 per cent, resin seizures by 11 per cent and cannabis oil seizures by 15 per cent. While changes in law enforcement priorities in some countries may have played a role, for the majority of countries lower seizures meant less trafficking as compared to the previous year. Taken together, cannabis herb and resin seizures are now back to the levels reported over the 2000-2002 period. 

Most cannabis herb seizures in 2005 were reported from Mexico (38% of the world total), followed by the... 

Most seizures of cannabis resin were made by Spain (51%), followed by Pakistan and Morocco (7% each), France (6%), Iran (5%), the UK (5% in 2004) and Afghanistan (3%). 

Most cannabis oil seizures were made in the Russian Federation (34%) and the Ukraine (10%), followed by Canada (7%) and Morocco ( 5%). 

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