Abuse of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) is now estimated to affect approximately 25 million people worldwide, with more than 60 percent of ATS abuse taking place in East and Southeast Asia. Production and trafficking of ATS has also risen, with global seizures of ATS laboratories and precursors reaching record levels in 2004. In addition, ATS seizures are still six times as high as they were in 1990, with most of the trafficking of methamphetamine occurring in East and Southeast Asia .*

These dramatic statistics are attributed to the availability and accessibility of ATS precursor chemicals, to wide-spread production facilities and sophisticated trafficking networks which have existed in the region for many decades, and to the existence of a large, mostly young, vulnerable population.

Nations in the East Asia and Pacific region understand the international nature of the ATS problem and are collaborating to improve the availability of drug data on a subregional and national basis. Their objective is to coordinate policy decisions to deal effectively with the serious threat posed by ATS.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Regional Centre has noted the limited nature of accurate, standardized, systematic and timely drug abuse data and the national infrastructures needed to generate useful information, especially with regard to ATS. In response to this need in the region, a project entitled Improving ATS Data and Information Systems is being implemented to facilitate ATS data and information sharing in the region. The major objective of the project is to "...establish infrastructure for better understanding patterns of ATS in the region and for exchanging data pertinent to ATS abuse prevention and control." This website is an output of the project, a collaborative effort between countries in the region and the UNODC Regional Centre.

* United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2006 World Drug Report (Vienna, 2006).