International Day against Drug Abuse 2021: International Day against Drug Abuse is celebrated each year on June 26 to help raise awareness of the major problem that illicit drugs represent to society.
A day ahead of the International Day against Drug Abuse 2021, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released the 2021 World Drug Report annual report which said that around 275 million people used drugs worldwide in the last year of unprecedented upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, up by 22 per cent from 2010.
That’s among the key findings of the latest annual report, which also provides an overview of global drug markets, as well as their impact on people’s health and livelihoods.
It says that cannabis potency has quadrupled in some parts of the world over the last two decades, while the percentage of adolescents who perceived the drug as harmful fell by as much as 40 per cent.
The 2021 theme of the UNODC-led campaign is “Share facts on drugs, save lives” to achieve a world free of drug abuse.
Socioeconomic impact
Mental health conditions are on the rise worldwide which can spur a rise in drug use disorders.
Moreover, changes have already been observed in drug use patterns during the pandemic, including increases in the use of cannabis and the non-medical use of pharmaceutical sedatives.
Business as usual
The Report reveals that access to drugs has become simpler than ever with online sales, and major drug markets on the dark web are now worth some $315 million annually.
Positive trends
A rise in the use of technology during the pandemic has triggered innovation in drug prevention and treatment services, through more flexible models of service delivery such as telemedicine, enabling healthcare professionals to reach and treat more patients.
Key numbers
Between 2010-2019 the number of people using drugs increased by 22 per cent, due to increase in the global population.
Roughly 200 million people used cannabis in 2019 representing 4 per cent of the global population.
The number of cannabis users has increased by nearly 18 per cent over the past decade.
An estimated 20 million people used cocaine in 2019, corresponding to 0.4 per cent of the global population.
Roughly 50,000 people died from opioid overdoses in the United States in 2019, more than double the 2010 figure.
Fentanyl and its analogues now are involved in most of the deaths..
The number of new psychoactive substances (NPS) found at global level has been stabilizing in recent years at slightly more than 500 substances (541 in 2019) while the actual number of NPS identified for the first time at global level declined from 213 to 71 between 2013 and 2019.
