UN Report Finds Global Drug Use Has Reached Record Levels

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The United Nations said 331 million people used drugs in 2024, with cocaine production surging and synthetic drugs creating new challenges for law enforcement and public health agencies.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

Global drug use has reached the highest level ever recorded, with one in 16 people worldwide using drugs, according to a new United Nations report.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime released its World Drug Report 2026 on Friday, showing that 331 million people used drugs in 2024. That figure represents a 34% increase over the previous decade.

The agency highlighted the findings in a June 26 post on X, saying cannabis remains the world’s most widely used drug while cocaine has reached record levels.

“While cannabis remains the most widely used drug, the global cocaine market has reached record levels,” the post said.

From 2014 to 2024, global cocaine production increased by more than 370%, according to the report.

Cannabis accounted for the largest share of global drug use, with 256 million users in 2024. Opioids followed with 63 million users. Amphetamines were used by 32 million people, cocaine by 25 million and ecstasy by 21 million.

The report also found that about 63 million people worldwide had drug use disorders. Only one in 12 received treatment.

The treatment gap was wider for women. Among women with drug use disorders, only one in 23 received treatment. Among men, the figure was one in nine.

Injection drug use remained a major health concern. Of the 14 million people who used drugs by injection, almost 7 million had hepatitis C, 1.7 million were living with HIV and 1.5 million had both.

The UNODC report said one of the “biggest reckonings with drug use in recent years occurred in Canada and the United States,” where the opioid crisis caused nearly 1 million deaths during the first two decades of the century.

The report said the peak of that crisis “appears to have passed,” with 2024 figures showing fewer opioid deaths involving fentanyl.

In January 2026, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that overdose death rates involving synthetic opioids other than methadone fell by 35.6% between 2023 and 2024.

Still, the UNODC said most opioid deaths occurred in the United States and Canada, with fentanyl opioids continuing to account for the largest share.

The agency also pointed to nitazenes, a class of synthetic opioids more potent than fentanyl, as an emerging threat in the United States. In 2024, 409 deaths were attributed to nitazenes across 43 U.S. jurisdictions.

UNODC said in a June 26 statement that drug manufacturers are developing new synthetic substances to avoid detection and evade regulations. In 2024, authorities found five times more drug types in seizures than they did before 2000.

Monica Juma, executive director of UNODC, said the market is changing rapidly and creating new risks.

“We are already suffering the impact: millions of premature deaths and healthy years of life needlessly lost; drug trafficking networks that are distorting economies; the destruction of lives, communities, and livelihoods; and the compounding of insecurity and violence,” Juma said.

“The imperative to focus on stopping organized crime groups has never been greater. We must surge deterrence efforts, increase intelligence-sharing, and coordinate joint operations, while investing more in prevention and treatment,” she added.

In the United States, the Trump administration has released its 2026 National Drug Control Strategy, outlining how federal officials plan to respond to addiction, trafficking and drug-related deaths.

Sara Carter, the administration’s drug czar, said last month that the strategy includes securing global supply chains from transnational criminal groups and expanding treatment access for addiction.

Carter said federal officials will “work tirelessly” to reduce drug demand in the United States.

“We will build a culture of resilience where living drug-free is the norm. We will empower educators, faith leaders, and families to protect our children from this chemical assault,” Carter said.

“And we will ensure that compassionate, effective treatment and recovery support are available to every American who is courageously fighting to reclaim their life from addiction,” she added.

The strategy said the administration will work to make drug addiction treatment “more accessible than continued drug use.”

Some public health advocates have raised concerns that proposed federal budget cuts could weaken the treatment system needed to carry out that goal. In a May 7 statement, Libby Jones of the Global Health Advocacy Incubator criticized the Trump administration’s fiscal year 2027 budget request, which would cut $261 million from the Substance Abuse Prevention program and $576 million from the Mental and Behavioral Health subtotal.

“A strategy that says treatment should be easier to obtain than illicit drugs must have the infrastructure to make that real,” Jones said.

At the same time, federal officials have reported increased drug seizures. The Department of Homeland Security said in a June 19 statement that Customs and Border Protection seized 32% more cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin and marijuana nationwide in May than it did two years earlier.

“CBP has seized 56 percent more drugs this fiscal year through May than it seized during the same period of FY 2024,” DHS said.

The UN report shows that drug use, trafficking and addiction remain global challenges despite some signs of improvement in U.S. opioid death trends. With synthetic drugs expanding and cocaine production at record levels, UN officials said stronger international coordination, prevention and treatment efforts are needed to address the rising toll.