The growing seriousness of the world drug problem

Drug use continues to be high worldwide. In 2021, 1 in 17 people globally have used drugs, a 23% increase from a decade ago.

Cannabis continues to be the most used drug, with an estimated 219 million users

(4.3 per cent of the global adult population) in 2021. It is estimated that in 2021, 36 million people had used amphetamines, 22 million had used cocaine and 20 million had used “ecstasy”-type substances in the past year. An estimated 60 million people engaged in non-medical opioid use in 2021, 31.5 million of whom used opiates (mainly heroin).

There are clear regional differences in the primary drug reported by people entering drug treatment: in most of Europe and most of the subregions of Asia, opioids are the most frequent primary drug of people in drug treatment, whereas in Latin America it is cocaine, in parts of Africa it is cannabis, and in East and South-East Asia it is methamphetamine^[1].

The dangers of drugs

Illicit drugs include, but are not limited to, opioids including heroin, morphine, opium, and other pharmaceutical opioids: cannabis, amphetamines, and cocaine. Harms can also occur due to extra medical use of prescription drugs. Dependence on illicit and prescription drugs can develop among people who use them regularly over a sustained period, and is characterised by a loss of control over use.

Substance use also carries risks of other adverse health outcomes. For example, injection of drugs carries risks if non-sterile injecting equipment is used, because of potential exposure to HIV and viral hepatitis, other infections, and other injection related injuries and diseases such as sepsis, thrombosis, and endocarditis^[2].

Different drugs pose different burdens on health and health-care systems. Opioids remain, however, the leading cause of deaths in fatal overdoses. Opioids accounted for nearly 70 per cent of the 128,000 deaths attributed to drug use disorders in 2019. Opioid use disorders also accounted for the majority (71 per cent of the 18 million healthy years of life lost owing to premature death and disability in 2019.

A complex and dynamic relationship exists between drugs and conflict. Illicit drug economies can flourish in situations of conflict and weak rule of law and can, in turn, prolong or fuel conflict^[1].

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