Opioid-related harms, measured as new people entering treatment, have declined in Europe.Although the share of people in treatment for opioid use disorders remains substantial in Europe, the number of people entering treatment for the first time has decreased.In Eastern Europe and South-Eastern…
The use of buprenorphine and methadone for medical purposes continues to expandMethadone and buprenorphine are the main substances used in substitution treatment for opioid dependent persons worldwide. Availability of both substances for medical use rose 10-fold over the last two decades and…
Opium production and opiate seizures are closely linked, but stockpiling has partly mitigated recent supply shocks.Opiate seizures have generally moved in parallel with opium production over time, but production has been far more volatile. Following the transfer of power in Afghanistan in 2021 and…
Opium prices show diverging trends, reflecting shifting supply dynamics across producing countries.Opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar, increased by 17 per cent in 2025 and more than doubled since 2020, with increases reported across all poppy producing states; this was mirrored by a similar…
The use of cannabis continues to grow in almost all regions of the world.The number of cannabis users has increased worldwide over the past 20 years, particularly in Africa, Asia and the Americas, while remaining relatively stable in Europe and Oceania.The annual prevalence of cannabis use has also…
Cannabis continues to be the most widely produced, trafficked and consumed drug worldwide in 2024. As in previous years, seizures of cannabis herb exceeded those of cannabis resin.
Trend data on seizures suggest that the trafficking in (and misuse of) pharmaceutical opioids increased strongly over the last decade, reaching record levels in 2024.The largest volumes of pharmaceutical opioids were seized in Africa (60 per cent – mostly in West and Central Africa) and Asia (33…
Fentanyls continue to account for the largest share of harm from the non-medical use of NPS synthetic opioids, in particular in North America, but the arrival on the market of nitazenes and orphines , which are often more potent than fentanyls, has led to a number of acute emergencies and fatal…
Between 2000 and 2020, cannabis in Western and Central Europe and parts of South-Eastern Europe became more potent, more affordable and more frequently used in a number of countries, although these trends have stabilized in recent years.Despite this stabilization, the number of cannabis-related…
The introduction of control mechanisms has mitigated the spread of semi-synthetic cannabinoids that started to appear after 2020After 2020 and 2021, semi-synthetic cannabinoids, in particular delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-8-THC) and hexahydrocannabinol (HHC) have appeared on the market mostly…
