Covid-19 and economic downturn increase drug abuse

While more than 35 million people around the world suffer from drug addiction, Covid-19 and the difficult economic conditions doubled this number.

According to estimates by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for 2020, about 269 million people have taken drugs, a 30 % jump from previous years.

Euronews agency quoted the Executive Director of the UNODC office Ghada Wali, saying, “marginalized groups, young people, women and poor are expected to be significantly affected by this problem, especially amid the unemployment problem”.

She declared, “At the same time, border restrictions and other constraints related to Covid-19 pandemic, led to a lack of access to drugs, thereby reducing the purity and price of them”.

According to data from 69 countries, more than half the drug charges between, 2014 and 2018, were Cannabis abuse.