Casablanca – In 2020, an estimated 284 million people aged 15 to 24 used drugs worldwide, a 26% rise over the previous decades, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported in its World Drug Report 2022.
Released yesterday, this UN report presents an in-depth research of global drug markets and investigates the link between pharmaceuticals and the environment in the context of the SDGs, climate change, and environmental sustainability.
It pointed out that people under the age of 35 make up the majority of individuals treated for drug use disorders in Africa and Latin America. “Young people are using more drugs, with use levels today in many countries higher than with the previous generation,” said the report.
The World Drug Report 2022 also examines the different effects of the illicit drug trade, the spread of synthetic drugs into new markets, and an all-time high in cocaine manufacturing.
According to the survey, the number of persons suffering from various diseases as a result of drug usage has risen to 38.6 million over the past ten years.
In 2020, over 61 million individuals were addicted to synthetic narcotics known as “opioids.” Approximately 34 million used amphetamine-type substances, nearly 20 million used ecstasies, and around 21 million used cocaine.
Cannabis, on the other hand, is the most extensively used drug in the world, according to the study, with 209 million users in 2020. Its usage has increased by 23% in the previous decade.
“Cannabis legalization in parts of the world appears to have accelerated daily use and related health impacts,” it added.
Whereas nearly 11 million individuals were injecting drugs worldwide in 2020, “around half of this number was living with hepatitis C, 1.4 million were living with HIV, and 1.2 million were living with both,” the study reported.
According to the survey, those who inject drugs or use drugs are 35 times more likely to develop HIV than the overall population.
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The number of persons who died as a result of drug usage climbed by 17.5% between 2009 and 2019, the study said.
According to the research, Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Mexico manufacture 95% of the world’s opium.
“Opium production worldwide grew 7% between 2020 and 2021 to 7,930 tons – predominantly due to an increase in production in Afghanistan. However, the global area under opium poppy cultivation fell by 16% to 246,800 in the same period,” it noted.
According to UNODC, the study aims to both increase international cooperation to combat the impact of the global drug crisis on health, governance, and security, help the Member States predict and respond to threats from drug markets, as well as minimize their repercussions.
