A United Nations report said on Monday that regular cannabis use appears to have increased as regions, including states, have legalized its use, while lockdowns caused by Covid-19 have had a similar effect, increasing the risk of depression and suicide.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said in its annual report on drugs in the world that cannabis has long been the most widely used drug in the world and its use is increasing, while cannabis is gaining strength in the market in terms of its THC content.
Various US states legalized the non-medical use of cannabis, starting with Washington and Colorado in 2012.
Uruguay approved it in 2013, as did Canada in 2018. Other countries have taken similar steps, but the report focused on those three countries.
"It appears that the legalization of cannabis use has accelerated upward trends in recorded daily use of the drug," the Vienna-based United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said.
Although the prevalence of cannabis use among adolescents "did not change much" there was a "significant increase in the reported frequency of high-potency products among young adults".
And "the percentage of people suffering from psychological disorders and suicides related to the regular use of cannabis has increased," according to the report.
Nearly 284 million people, or 5.6 percent of the world's population, used drugs such as heroin, cocaine, amphetamines or ecstasy in 2020, the report said, the most recent data available. Of these, 209 million used cannabis.
"Lockdown periods during the COVID-19 pandemic have led to increases in cannabis use...in 2020," he said.
He added that cocaine production hit a record in 2020 and smuggling by sea is on the rise, with seizure data in 2021 indicating an expansion outside the two main markets of North America and Europe into Africa and Asia.
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- Agencies