The regular use of cannabis has increased worldwide due to increasing legalization and the coronalockdowns. In a report published Monday, the United Nations warns that this will also put an increasing burden on healthcare, as increased use leads to more mental illness.
Cannabis has long been the world’s most widely used drug. Not only is this use increasing, the cannabis also has an increasingly higher content of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), writes the United Nations drug and crime prevention agency UNODC in its annual World Drugs Report. THC is the substance that makes cannabis users high.
Several US states have legalized the use of cannabis in recent years. Uruguay legalized the smoking of weed and hashish as early as 2013, Canada in 2018. Other countries have recently taken similar steps. “The legalization of cannabis appears to have accelerated the already existing upward trend in reported daily use,” writes the UNODC. The many corona lockdowns in 2020 also led to more cannabis use.
hard drugs
The UNODC is also concerned about the fact that many hard drugs, such as cocaine, are reaching more and more new markets. Its smuggling to North America and Europe, traditionally the main markets, has recently expanded to Africa and Asia.
The UNODC estimates that by 2020 some 284 million people will use drugs worldwide: 5.6 percent of the world’s population. Of those 284 million people, 209 million used cannabis.
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.
