Drug use & health consequences>>Drug use

Drug use among specific population groups

Data on specific population groups remain limited.

  • The available information suggests higher levels of drug use, drug use disorders and injecting drug use among sex workers, people experiencing homelessness and those with severe mental illness compared with the general population, while these tend to be lower among people living in rural areas.
  • Limited data also suggest that the population groups with higher use appear in drug treatment relatively infrequently, suggesting possible unmet needs.