New Study: Marijuana Most Popular Drug On Earth

[Wild Bill]

New Study: Marijuana Most Popular Drug on Earth

 

 

by Mark Miller

Fri, Jan 06, 2012 4:31 pm

 

 

Recently released data from an Australian study published in the medical journal The Lancet today confirms what many have long suspected – that cannabis is the most popular drug on Planet Earth. According to the three-part research series, somewhere between 121 and 191 million people between the ages of 15-64 use marijuana yearly across the globe, a staggeringly high percentage of the estimated 200 million users of all illicit drugs (which includes amphetamines, cocaine, heroin, LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, etc).

 

Though North America is generally most associated with pot use and culture, it is the two dominant countries of Oceania – Australia and New Zealand – that lead in per capita pot usage with an estimated 10 to 15 percent of the 15 to 64-year-old population using cannabis annually. Apparently they really like to party in the lands down under because the two countries also account for the highest percentage of speed/crystal meth usage worldwide, with some 2.8 percent of those nations' populations indulging in crank.

 

Africa boasts the second highest illegal drug use. Surprisingly, the Americas – North and South – rank only third, with pot use by those 15-64 at 7 percent, with meth used by 1 percent of that demographic on the two continents combined. Not surprisingly, Asia, with the harshest laws, sports the lowest drug use on Earth.

 

Hard drug use globally (including cocaine and various opioids besides amphetamine) was estimated to be somewhere between 16 to 38 million, with somewhere between 11 and 21 million going as far as to inject narcotics. But no illicit drug remains as dangerous as legal tobacco – for example, in Australia, 1.3 percent of all annual deaths are linked to all illegal drug intake while a whopping 11.7 percent of Aussies die each year due to tobacco-related illness.

 

Also significant in this report was the authors’ suggestion that illegal drugs must be legislated according to the dictates of each individual nation, as opposed to relying on international drug treaties that don’t apply to specific regions of the world, asserting that the present international system of drug control has failed and that a new model must be designed.

[cristinew]

and safest

[greenbuddha]

Been used safely for thousands of years for medical and recreational reasons.

 

Only became illigal when a great deal of money could be made by MAKING it illegal.

[Kevin]

Well, they got it partly right. They did call it cannabis but no matter how many times they say it, or how hard they try to make it so, it's not a drug.

 

Caffeine and nicotine are certainly the most popular drugs on earth. I know people who swear they have never consumed drugs while washing down their prescription pill with coffee before lighting a cig. And they call us potheads. What a world.

[Wild Bill]

They did call it cannabis but no matter how many times they say it, or how hard they try to make it so, it's not a drug.

 

drug

 

1. Pharmacology . a chemical substance used in the treatment, cure, prevention, or diagnosis of disease or used to otherwise enhance physical or mental well-being.

[prettyxcorpse]

Weed was put on this earth by your gods and it was meant for us all to share and live in peace and harmony, and love and happiness. Think about it! If everyone in the world smoked a big fat joint, they wouldn't be thinking about wars and politics and poverty and sickness. They would just be hungry. I believe the only risk in smoking pot is that it is life changing, in good ways, and can take more or stronger doses to catch a high. Marijuana does not kill, it does not cause sickness, it does not cause people to murder or lie or cheat or steal. I've never seen a family destroyed by marijuana, but I have seen lives destroyed by alcohol and perscription pills. You can be against it, but just like I am against things, I keep my opinions to myself and my business to myself. If more people experienced the effects of marijuana, the best kinds of pot, they might change their minds, but they might also get a better idea of why we are pressing so hard to educate the world on the uses and reasons for marijuana.

[Holistic1]

http://facts.randomhistory.com/2009/02/27_marijuana.html

 

"After alcohol, marijuana is the most popular recreational or mood-altering drug used worldwide....According to one report, it would take 800 joints to kill a person—but the cause of death would be carbon monoxide poisoning....The psychoactive side effects of THC in small doses include loss of inhibition, elation, and a distorted sense of time. The drug can also cause increased visual sensitivity and heightened imagination....The first recorded use of marijuana as a medicinal drug occurred in 2737 B.C. by Chinese emperor Shen Nung. The emperor documented the drug’s effectiveness in treating the pains of rheumatism and gout....During the temperance movement of the 1890s, marijuana was commonly recommended as a substitute for alcohol. The reason for this was that use of marijuana did not lead to domestic violence while alcohol abuse did."

 

So somebody tell me again, how is it worse than alcohol, sugar, caffeine, prescription pills, and tobacco, all of which are addicting and have significant health consequences with extended or excessive use?

[Herb Cannabis]

Weed was put on this earth by your gods and it was meant for us all to share and live in peace and harmony, and love and happiness. Think about it! If everyone in the world smoked a big fat joint, they wouldn't be thinking about wars and politics and poverty and sickness. They would just be hungry. I believe the only risk in smoking pot is that it is life changing, in good ways, and can take more or stronger doses to catch a high. Marijuana does not kill, it does not cause sickness, it does not cause people to murder or lie or cheat or steal. I've never seen a family destroyed by marijuana, but I have seen lives destroyed by alcohol and perscription pills. You can be against it, but just like I am against things, I keep my opinions to myself and my business to myself. If more people experienced the effects of marijuana, the best kinds of pot, they might change their minds, but they might also get a better idea of why we are pressing so hard to educate the world on the uses and reasons for marijuana.

 

Your post reminded me of this quote, I'm sorry, I don't know who to give the credit for it, but anyways, it goes something like this, "All drugs have side effects, but in the herbs, they are almost always good!"