Limited age-disaggregated data on people in drug-related treatment suggest great variations between regions in the age distribution of people in treatment for drug use disordersGlobally, there are two main patterns in the age profile of people in drug-related treatment, with some regions having…
The use of amphetamines has distinct regional patterns; past-year use is generally higher among men (0.85 per cent) than women (0.34 per cent) globally.The largest markets for ATS, mainly methamphetamine, remain East and South-East Asia and North America. The highest past-year use of amphetamines…
More countries perceive an increase in drug-related deaths in 2024 than decrease.Toxicological findings reported by 66 countries suggest that opioids are found in direct drug-related deaths far more than other drug types, but cocaine has overtaken (albeint by a small margin) pharmaceutical…
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…
Global availability, coverage and accessibility of drug-related treatment varies across intervention types.Not all types of pharmacological treatment, psychosocial interventions and rehabilitation and aftercare are available in all countries. Opioid agonist maintenance therapy and opioid antagonist…
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…
Drug use patterns vary significantly by age, with adolescents showing use levels comparable to or higher than the general population, for most substances.Globally, the use of amphetamines, cocaine and "ecstasy" is similar or higher among adolescents aged 15-16 than among the general population aged…
Men continue to make up the majority of people who use drugs, but gender differences vary by drug and region.In 2024, about three quarters of people who used drugs in the past year were men, though the share of women varies substantially by region and drug type. For example, only 8 per cent of…
The use of “ecstasy” remains highest in high income countries and parts of Asia.Global prevalence of "ecstasy" use in the past year is estimated at 0.4% of the general population aged 15-64 years with higher values among males (0.54%) than among females (0.26%) although the difference is not as…
The global number of deaths directly or indirectly attributable to drugs continued to increase in 2023, the last year with comprehensive estimates available, although population-adjusted rates have grown slower, suggesting that the growth was in part due to population growth at the susceptible age.…
