Over 36Million People Suffered Drug Use Disorder in 2020 – UNODC Report
BY OLAKUNLE AWONIYI, ABUJA – The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has declared that over 36 million people suffered from drug use disorder while 275 million people used drugs Worldwide in 2020.
UNODC Country Representative in Nigeria, Dr Oliver Stolpe, who announced this in Abuja at a press conference, said that in the last 24 years, cannabis potency increased by as much as four times in parts of the world even as the percentage of adolescent who perceive the drug as harmful fell by as much as 40% despite evidence that cannabis use is associated with a variety of health and other harms especially among regular long-term users.
The theme of this year International Day Against Drug Abuse and illicit trafficking is “Share facts on drugs, save lives.
Presenting the UNODC 2020 Report, Dr Stolpe said the percentage of the main psychoactive component in cannabis has risen from around six percent to more than eleven percent in Europe between 2002-2019 and around four percent in the united states between 1995-2019 while the percentage of adolescent that perceived cannabis as harmful decline by forty percent in the united states and by twenty five percent in Europe.
Stolpe also said that the new report shows that drug market has swiftly resumed operations after the initial disruption at the onset of the pandemic.
The report also noted that cocaine supply chain to Europe are diversifying as well as pushing prices down and quality up, thereby threatening Europe with further expansion of the cocaine market, adding that this is likely to widen the potential harm caused by the drug in the region.
The Report further states; “COVID-19 has also triggered innovation and adaptation in drug prevention and treatment services through more flexible models of service delivery. Many countries have introduced or expanded telemedicine services due to the pandemic which for drug users means that healthcare workers can now offer counselling or initial assessment over the telephone and use electronic system to proscribe controlled substances.
“While the impact of COVID-19 on drugs challenges is not yet fully known, the analysis suggest that the pandemic has brought increasing economic hardship that is likely to make illicit drug cultivation more appealing to fragile rural communities.
“The social impact of the pandemics driving a rise in inequality, poverty and mental health conditions particularly among already vulnerable populations represent factors that could push more people into drug use,” the Report states.
Stolpe explained that the 2021 World drug report provides a global overview of the supply and demand of opiates, cocaine, cannabis, amphetamine-type stimulant and new psychoactive substances as well as their impact on health, taking into account the possible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
