200 million people use illegal drugs; what is the toll on health?
Source: Los Angeles Times
About 200 million people around the world use illegal drugs every year, and that may be taking a toll on health and death rates in various countries, says a report released Thursday in the Lancet.
The study, part of a series the journal is doing on addiction, offers a plethora of information about use of opioids, amphetamines, cocaine and marijuana worldwide, based on reports about drug use, drug dependence, deaths, and health-related fallouts from illegal drug use. Those four drug categories were chosen since information on other substances, such as ecstasy, anabolic steroids and hallucinogenic drugs, is sketchier.
Let's start with some numbers: Globally 125 million to 203 million people use marijuana, 14 million to 56 million use amphetamines, 12 million to 21 million use opioids and 14 million to 21 million use cocaine. Eleven million to 21 million people inject drugs. About 15 million to 39 million people are considered problem users. One in 20 people ages 15 to 64 uses illegal drugs every year. Rates are highest in developed count.ies.
In 2009 the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported there were about 15 million to 39 million problem drug users worldwide, and the World Health Organization found that more developed countries had higher rates of drug dependence.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-worldwide-drug-use-20120105,0,7241284.story
It was locked on LBN for being off topic, so I post it here.
= new reply since forum marked as read
