Age profiles of people in drug-related treatment vary widely across regions and subregions.Limited data suggest wide regional differences in the age distribution of people in treatment for drug use disorders.Globally, two main patterns emerge: in Central Asia and Transcaucasia, Western and Central…
Cultivation of cannabis continues in virtually every country worldwide, but certain dynamics may be discerned at global level.Trends reported on cannabis cultivation, as reported by Member States, suggest a prevalent increasing trend as of 2020, followed by a slowing down and apparent decline…
Cannabis herb seizures stabilized at high levels in 2024, with trafficking largely being intra-regional. But some new inter-regional flows, notably from North America, have emerged in recent years.Cannabis herb trafficking is global, with seizures suggesting a concentration in Africa and the…
The use of specific cultivation practices, in parallel with a shift toward indoor cannabis cultivation, has likely contributed to increasing cannabis herb potency, notably in industrialized countries. These developments, alongside an ever-broader variety of cannabis products, are likely being…
Cannabis resin seizures indicate a contracting market, as cannabis herb (with high levels of THC) is increasingly replacing cannabis resin.Cannabis resin seizures showed an upward trend until 2020 but have since fallen sharply across all regions – by more than 50 per cent globally – pointing to a…
Cannabis seizures stabilized at high levels in 2024.Global seizures of cannabis herb and resin stabilized at high levels in 2024, following increases over the 2019-2023 period. However, whether the higher seizures, and their possible impact on supply, may be linked to the reported decline in the…
Though overall drug sales via the dark web appear to be rather resilient, darknet markets are highly volatile and frequently appear only to disappear quickly.Unlike major e-commerce platforms on the clear net, darknet marketplaces typically have short lifespans – averaging just 1 year and 4 months…
Darknet sales, mostly drug related, increased to around US$2.5 billion in 2025 – and are increasingly driven by wholesale sales while the bulk of retail online sales takes place on social media.
Darknet market sales (mostly drug-related) reached some US…
More countries perceived an increase in drug-related deaths in 2024 than a decrease.Toxicological findings reported by 66 countries suggest that opioids are by far the most common substance involved in direct drug-related deaths, with cocaine now ranking second after overtaking (albeit by a small…
Drug mixtures present on the drugs market may cause additional harms alongside those traditionally observed, due to issues such as user-unknown content, varying contents, the presence of harmful ingredients, or possible drug interactions, to name a few.New drug mixtures such as "tuci" pink cocaine…
Treatment coverage remains low globally, with strong regional and drug-specific differences.Only a small proportion of people with drug use disorders receive treatment, with coverage highest in Europe and lowest in Africa and Asia. Across all regions, the estimated treatment coverage is lower for…
The limited data available suggest that pathways into drug-related treatment and the types of treatment vary between regionsData from 61 countries suggest that pathways of referral vary by (sub)region: for example, in Africa, referral by friends and family or self-referral is most common, while in…
