Cannabis use has increased in US states that have legalised it, according to a UN report, while COVID-19 lockdowns had a similar effect, swelling the risks of depression and suicide.
In its annual World Drug Report, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) described cannabis as the world’s most widely used drug – some 209m users – adding that the strength of the drug on the market was increasing in terms of its tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content.
Various US states have legalised non-medical use of cannabis – Washington and Colorado in 2012, Uruguay in 2013, and Canada in 2018, reports Reuters. Others have taken similar steps but the report focused on those three countries.
The report said there had been “a pronounced increase in reported frequent use of high-potency products among young adults”, and that “the proportion of people with psychiatric disorders and suicides associated with regular cannabis use has increased”.
Roughly 284m people, or 5.6% of the world’s population, had used a drug such as heroin, cocaine, amphetamines or ecstasy in 2020, according to the the most recent data available, reports TimesLIVE.
Opioids remain the deadliest drugs, with fentanyl driving US overdose deaths to a new record: the provisional estimate for 2021 is 107,622.
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