''Over 200 Million People Using Illicit Drugs Worldwide''
Saturday, 07 January 2012, 00:43 IST
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London: One in every 20 people in the age group of 15 to 64 years use an illicit drug and the estimated number of drug users worldwide could be more than 200 million, according to a study published in The Lancet. In 2009, between 149 and 271 million people used an illegal drug and the abuse was highest in the high income countries, found the study based on data from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). It estimated that there are 125 to 203 million people who use cannabis, 14 to 56 million are amphetamine users, 14 to 21 million use cocaine and 12 to 21 million are opioid users. There are an estimated 15 to 39 million problematic users of opioids, amphetamines, or cocaine, and 11-21 million people who inject drugs, it said. The paper by Prof Louisa Degenhardt of National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at University of New South Wales and Prof Wayne Hall of University of Queensland also noted that the drug-related burden of disease appears similar to that caused by alcohol in these developed countries. According to it, cannabis use appears to be highest in Oceania region -- Australia and New Zealand -- with up to 15 per cent of 15 to 64 year olds using the drug, while opioid use including heroin was highest in the Near and Middle East (up to 1.4 per cent). For amphetamines, again Oceania came out highest with up to 2.8 per cent of this age group using drugs such as speed and crystal meth (but not including ecstasy), and cocaine use was highest in North America (1.9 per cent), it said. The authors of the study also highlighted that there was no gold-standard method for the estimation of the true size of the population of illicit drug users, and that no one method is ideal for all drugs or all countries. "Intelligent policy responses to drug problems need better data for the prevalence of different types of illicit drug use and the harms that their use causes globally. This need is especially urgent in high-income countries with substantial rates of illicit drug use and in low-income and middle-income countries close to illicit drug production areas," they concluded.
Source: PTI
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