WHO IS THE LEADER IN WORLD CANNABIS PRODUCTION?
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recently published his World Drug Report 2017 -its 20th annual survey on production, trafficking, eradication and law enforcement around the world.
In recent years, the report has treatise on quantification the amount of cannabis cultivated in each country over the last decade. Morocco remains in first place, followed by Mexico and Paraguay.
The report only attempts to quantify the cultivated area of the main marijuana producers.
Morocco is again in the lead, with 47,000 hectares of cannabis cultivation. Mexico follows with 15,000 hectares. But now, Nigeria, the industry's newest exporter, ranks third with just over 4,500 hectares. Lebanon follows with 3,500 and Paraguay with just over 2,780.
UNOC reports are based on the most recent figures available: the 2017 report is based on data collected between 2010 and 2015. Estimates refer to “direct indicators (cultivation or eradication of cannabis plants) OR indirect indicators (seizures of cannabis plants, national cannabis production indicated as the source of seizures, etc.)…”
A total of 135 countries are believed to produce cannabis based on these indicators.
Morocco remains the leading producer of cannabis resin (hashish), followed by Afghanistan, Lebanon, India, and Pakistan. Hashish trafficking is predominantly interregional (particularly from North Africa to Europe), as opposed to herbal cannabis trafficking, which is largely intraregional (e.g., within South America).
The report acknowledges that "measuring the extent of eradication is challenging because some countries report eradication in terms of hectares, while others report in terms of the number of cannabis plants eradicated, the weight of cannabis plants seized, or the number of cannabis cultivation sites eradicated. This makes comparisons difficult.
Mexico leads the field in eradicated area, followed by Morocco and Nigeria, compared to the 2010-2015 figures.
The United States recorded the highest number of eradicated cannabis cultivation sites, followed by Ukraine, the Netherlands, and Russia.
The largest number of cannabis plants eradicated were reported in Nigeria, followed by the United States, the Philippines, and Paraguay.
Bolivia and Peru recorded the largest quantities of cannabis plants seized, followed by Jamaica.
In terms of tons of "cannabis herb" seized, the United States leads the way, followed by Mexico, Paraguay, Colombia, and Nigeria. For tons of "cannabis resin," Spain It is the world leader (material smuggled from North Africa), followed by Pakistan, Morocco, Afghanistan and Algeria.
In 2015, nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of the total amount of cannabis herb seized worldwide was seized in the Americas, according to this report.
Seizures are growing fastest in Africa and Latin America, doubling in both regions.
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