UNODC releases 2023 World Drug Report | Toxicology news

The 2023 World Drug Report was published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in June 2023.

This year's report offers a deep dive into regulations for the medical use of cannabis and psychedelics, and takes a closer look at the data on drugs and conflict.

We've rounded up some of the key points below.

• An estimated 13.2 million people injected drugs in 2021 – 18% more than what was estimated the previous year.

• Globally, over 296 million people used drugs in 2021, a 23% increase over the previous decade.

• The number of people who suffer from drug use disorders has skyrocketed to 39.5 million - a 48% increase over 10 years.

• Only 1 in 5 people suffering from drug-related disorders were in treatment for drug use in 2021, with widening disparities in access to treatment across regions.

• Youth populations are the most vulnerable to drug use and are also more severely affected by substance use disorder in several regions. In Africa, 70% of people in treatment are under the age of 35.

You can read the full report here.

For more analysis of the drug situation in Europe, you can also read the latest European Drug Report 2023: Trends and Developments report, published by the EMCDDA earlier this month.