Marijuana Most Popular Of Things Illegal.

[greenbuddha]

UK: Marijuana Most Popular Illegal Drug, Study Finds

 

• Get Active
• Subscribe
• Support Us

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n445/a03.html

Newshawk: http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm

Votes: 0

Pubdate: Thu, 29 Aug 2013

Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Copyright: 2013 The Commercial Appeal

Contact: http://web.commercialappeal.com/newgo/forms/letters.htm

Website: http://www.commercialappeal.com/

Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/95

Page: 3A

 

MARIJUANA MOST POPULAR ILLEGAL DRUG, STUDY FINDS

 

LONDON ( AP ) - Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug used worldwide, but addictions to popular painkillers like Vicodin, Oxycontin and codeine kill the most people, according to the first global survey of illicit drug abuse.

 

In addition to cannabis and opioid painkillers, scientists analyzed abuse of cocaine and amphetamines in 2010, largely based on previous studies.  The researchers found that for all the drugs studied, men in their 20s had the highest rates of abuse.  The worst-hit countries were Australia, Britain, Russia and the U.S.

 

But there were few concrete numbers to rely on and researchers used modeling techniques to come up with their estimates.

 

"...We can say definitely that there are drug problems in most parts of the world," said Theo Vos, of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, the study's senior author.  Vos said people tended to abuse drugs produced close to home: cocaine in North America, amphetamines and opioids in Asia and Australia.  Of the estimated 78,000 deaths in 2010 because of illegal drug use, more than half were because of painkiller addictions.

 

Vos said countries with harsh laws against drugs had worse death rates for addicts when compared to countries that relied on other policies, such as needle exchange programs and methadone clinics. 

MAP posted-by: Matt