Research on drug use

UNODC monitors global and regional developments in the demand for drugs, including the non-medical use of pharmaceutical drugs, through various channels and activities, including regular reporting from Member States, household surveys and targeted studies of high-risk drug users and vulnerable population groups.

Information from these sources is used to produce datasets but also analysed holistically to provide an overall picture of the many challenges the world faces in terms of drug use and health consequences, covering aspects such as trends in extent and patterns of drug use, risk behaviours, drug related morbidity and mortality and coverage of drug treatment for those suffering from drug use disorders.

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World drug report

A global reference on drug markets, trends and policy developments, the World Drug Report offers a wealth of data and analysis and in 2024 comprises several elements tailored to different audiences. The web-based Drug market patterns and trends module contains the latest analysis of global, regional and subregional estimates of and trends in drug demand and supply in a user-friendly, interactive format supported by graphs, infographics and maps. The Key findings and conclusions booklet provides an overview of selected findings from the analysis presented in the Drug market patterns and trends module and the thematic Contemporary issues on drugs booklet, while the Special points of interest fascicle offers a framework for the main takeaways and policy implications that can be drawn from those findings.

As well as providing an in-depth analysis of key developments and emerging trends in selected drug markets, the Contemporary issues on drugs booklet looks at several other developments of policy relevance. The booklet opens with a look at the 2022 Taliban ban on the cultivation and production of and trafficking in drugs in Afghanistan and its implications both within the country and in transit and destination markets elsewhere. This is followed by a chapter examining the convergence of drug trafficking and other activities and how they affect natural ecosystems and communities in the Golden Triangle in South-East Asia. The chapter also assesses the extent to which drug production and trafficking are linked with other illicit economies that challenge the rule of law and fuel conflict. Another chapter analyses how the dynamics of demand for and supply of synthetic drugs vary when the gender and age of market participants are considered. The booklet continues with an update on regulatory approaches to and the impact of legalization on the non-medical cannabis market in different countries, and a review of the enabling environment that provides broad access to the unsupervised, “quasi-therapeutic” and non-medical use of psychedelic substances. Finally, the booklet offers a multi-dimensional framework on the right to health in the context of drug use; these dimensions include availability, accessibility, acceptability, quality, non-discrimination, non-stigmatization and participation.

RESEARCH ON DRUG USE

In addition to the annual review of latest trends on drug use and health consequences and focused analyses on drug demand generated for the World Drug Report, drug use is addressed in topical research on drug markets, including that on opiates from Afghanistan,on cocaine, and that on drug demand in Ukraine.

National surveys on drug use supported by UNODC

Study on substance use and health among youth in Afghanistan 2018 (April 2021)
Drug situation in Afghanistan 2021 - Latest findings and emerging threats 2021
Drug use in Pakistan 2021 (ongoing)
High risk drug use in Kazakhstan 2021 (ongoing)
High risk drug use in Uzbekistan 2021 (ongoing)
Drug use in Guatemala 2021 (ongoing)
School survey on drug use in Senegal 2020 (forthcoming)
Study on substance use and health among youth in Afghanistan 2018 (forthcoming)
Rapport sur l'enquête sur la consommation de substances et la santé chez les élèves des écoles secondaires en Côte d'Ivoire 2019
Youth survey on drug use and health in Kazakhstan 2018
Drug use in Nigeria 2018
Estimating the extent of illicit drug use in Palestine 2017
Youth substance use in Tajikistan 2016
National study on problematic drug users (size estimation and patterns of drug abuse) Albania 2014-2015
Drug use in Pakistan 2013
Drug use in Afghanistan 2009
Problem drug use in Pakistan: results from the year 2006 national assessment

CAPACITY BUILDING ON RESEARCH ON DRUG USE

UNODC also supports Member States in developing capacity to design and implement methodologically sound surveys and assessments of drug use, as well as develop and implement integrated drug information systems and establishments of national drug observatories

Resources on drug use epidemiology

Developing an Integrated Drug Information System
Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Russian

Estimating prevalence: Indirect methods for estimating the size of the drug problem Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Russian

Conducting school survey on drug abuse
Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Russian

Focus Assessment Studies: A qualitative approach to data collection
Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Russian

Ethical challenges in drug epidemiology: issues, principles and guidelines
Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Russian

Guidance for the measurement of drug treatment data
Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Russian

OTHER RESEARCH ON DRUG MARKETS

Besides its activities on drug use, UNODC research on drug markets also encompasses activities to monitor and analyse drug supply, including activities to assess and monitor drug cultivation, production and manufacture and research on drug trafficking flows, routes and actors at national, regional and international levels.

Data

UNODC regularly updates global statistical series on drugs, including on drug trafficking (drug seizures, drug prices, drug purity, drug-related arrests). These data are available at dataUNODC

Following an extensive review of the current data collection instrument on drugs, the Annual Report Questionnaire, the UNODC, in consultation with experts from the Member States and international organisations, is preparing a revised Annual Report Questionnaire, which will be implemented from 2021.

28-30 August 2019, Second Expert Working Group on improving drug statistics and strengthening the Annual Report Questionnaire (ARQ)

29-31 January 2018, Expert Working Group on Improving Drug Statistics and Strengthening the Annual Report Questionnaire (ARQ)

United Nations

Office on Drugs and Crime