World drugs in graphics

A UN agency has published a comprehensive report on the worldwide illicit drugs market, the World Drug Report 2009. The graphs and maps below show the extent of the problem and measures to tackle it

Some argue that strict controls have created a thriving black market that breeds violence and corruption.

In the report's preface, UNODC Executive Director Antonio

Maria Costa calls for greater investment in drug treatment and crime control. He says legalising drugs would be "an historic mistake" as a free market would spark a drug epidemic. "Societies should not have to choose between protecting public health or public security: they can and should do both."

GLOBAL USE AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE

Cannabis is still the most widely produced and used drug in the world. It is also a drug that is increasing in potency. In the last decade, the amount of THC (the harmful component) found in marijuana from North America - grown using the latest techniques - has almost doubled.

The World Drugs Report shows consumption of both cannabis and cocaine, at least in the western world, remains steady or is in decline. In the last decade, cocaine use in the USA among 10th and 12th grade high school students fell by 40% and 30%.In Spain, Europe's largest cocaine market, annual prevalence of cocaine among secondary school students fell from 7.2% in 2004 to 4.1% in 2006. The picture is less clear in developing countries where data is limited.

Use of amphetamines, methamphetamine and ecstasy has levelled off in developed countries but production and consumption in developing countries may be growing.