News Editor
Peter Jerome
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has revealed in its ‘World Drug Report 2021’ released on Thursday, that Nigeria will have to grapple with 20 million drug users by the year 2030.
The report which stated that from UNODC’s Drug Use Survey in Nigeria, 14.3 million people used drugs, which increased in 2020, along with the figure for Africa, noted that the COVID-19 global pandemic also heightened the risk of drug use during the period under review, and based on the current projections, Nigeria would have an estimated 20 million drug users to grapple with by 2030.
“Between 2010 and 2019, the number of people using drugs increased by 22 per cent, owing in part to global population growth.
“Based on demographic changes alone, current projections suggest an 11 per cent rise in the number of people who use drugs globally by 2030 — and a marked increase of 40 per cent in Africa, due to its rapidly growing and young population.
“In Nigeria, this would signify that the country will have to grapple with approximately 20 million drug users by 2030, further deepening the public health and public security challenge”, the report added.
UNODC also stated that over 257 million people worldwide used.
