Survey: People With Higher Incomes More Likely to Use Legal and Illegal Drugs; Marijuana Use Widely Reported in U.S.
By Jennifer Warner
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD
June 30, 2008 — Despite tough anti-drug laws, a new survey shows the U.S. has the highest level of illegal drug use in the world.
The World Health Organization’s survey of legal and illegal drug use in 17 countries, including the Netherlands and other countries with less stringent drug laws, shows Americans report the highest level of cocaine and marijuana use.
For example, Americans were four times more likely to report using cocaine in their lifetime than the next closest country, New Zealand (16% vs. 4%),
Marijuana use was more widely reported worldwide, and the U.S. also had the highest rate of use at 42.4% compared with 41.9% of New Zealanders.
In contrast, in the Netherlands, which has more liberal drug policies than the U.S., only 1.9% of people reported cocaine use and 19.8% reported marijuana use.
Maybe they should have just said “drug use” rather than “illegal drug use”. Kind’a a no-brainer considering we also lead the world in our zeal for making drugs illegal. 🙂 Tell someone they can’t have a thing…
My guess is that Americans lead the world in addiction to prescription drugs as well but doesn’t seem to have been included in the “legal” side of the study.
Over-the-counter stimulants have been on the market long enough that trends should be emerging – long-term physical effects/disabilites, rising costs of medical intervention – yet another mess achieved through govt. brainstorming on what should be in the legal column.