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The Global Epidemic
People who abuse drugs come from all walks of life, although statistics show that some are more likely to take drugs than others. For instance, men are more likely to abuse drugs than women, singles more than married people, city-dwellers more than rural residents and younger people more than older people. Prisoners and street children also show a high incidence of drug abuse.
The prevalence and patterns of abuse of different drugs vary considerably by region and country. For the latest available figures, consult the World Situation with Regard to Drug Abuse and Global Illicit Drug Trends.
UNDCP's World Drug Report estimates that cannabis is the most widely abused drug in all parts of the world, with around 141 million people consuming it. This corresponds to 2.45 per cent of the world population. In particular, large numbers of young people experiment with cannabis. The proportion of school children and young adults who have used cannabis at least once in their lives is as high as 37 per cent in some countries, while the proportion for past-month use can be as high as 10-25 per cent. Overall, cannabis abuse is increasing in many countries while stabilizing in countries where it has already reached high levels.
Globally, United Nations DrugCP's estimates show that the abuse of synthetic drugs, particularly of amphetamine-type stimulants (such as "speed" and Ecstasy) is widespread and increasing rapidly. Some 30 million people abuse such synthetic stimulants.
Having spread relatively slowly in the 1980s, abuse of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) grew rapidly in a large number of countries in the 1990s, particularly in Europe, Australia, North America and South-East Asia. Recently, the abuse has stabilized in some of these areas but there is still a continuous growth in demand for ATS at the global level, and in East and South-east Asia in particular. Increasingly, synthetic drugs have become the recreational drugs of choice among young people, often in combination with cannabis. MDMA (Ecstasy) is popular in the industrialized world, especially in Europe. In general, cocaine along with various other "coca-derived" substances is the second most widely abused drug in the Americas after cannabis; coca-derived substances dominate the demand for treatment. Abuse of cocaine still seems to be highest in the United States, despite the large decline in its use over the last decade and the growing levels of abuse of cocaine and "bazuco" (coca paste) in Latin American countries. UNDCP estimates that some 13 million people abuse cocaine world-wide. Compared to other drugs, the abuse of heroin and other opiates is less prevalent. UNDCP believes that around eight million people abuse opiates, mostly in Europe, South-east and South-west Asia. In general, consumption affects less than two per cent of the population in these regions but can be more widespread in some of the opium-cultivating areas. Rising levels of abuse are reported in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Responses to the drug abuse problem must be based on a regular assessment of the nature and magnitude of drug abuse and drug-related problems. Far too many countries lack this information.
UNDCP's Global Assessment Programme on Drug Abuse (GAP) is designed to establish one global and nine regional systems to collect reliable and internationally comparable drug abuse data and to assess the magnitude and patterns of drug abuse at the country, regional and global level. It is also necessary to have access to reliable and up-to-date research on existing responses to drug abuse situations in order to develop appropriate interventions. UNDCP Guidelines on Drug Abuse Rapid Situation Assessments and Responses are available in all UN languages.
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