news.un.org
2026-06-26
An estimated 331 million people used drugs in 2024, equivalent to 6.2 per cent of the world's population aged 15 to 64, up from 5.2 per cent a decade ago.
Cannabis remained the most widely used drug, with 256 million users, followed by opioids (63 million), amphetamines (32 million), cocaine (25 million) and ecstasy (21 million).
The report also highlights the rapid evolution of synthetic drugs. In 2024, authorities identified 755 new psychoactive substances, including 118 reported for the first time, while the number of different drugs detected in seizures is now five times higher than before the year 2000.
"The market is becoming very diverse, but also perhaps more dangerous," said Chloe Carpentier, lead researcher for the report, in an interview with UN News.
"We don't always know what we are taking, and first responders don't know what they are responding to."