New UN Drug Report Demonstrates Cannabis Prohibition’s Ineffectiveness
The United Nations has published its 2025 World Drug Report. Included in it is the statistic that an estimated 244 million people are cannabis consumers. While the United Nations Drug Report is saturated with drug war rhetoric, that single statistic demonstrates how ineffective cannabis prohibition policies are when it comes to deterring cannabis use.
Humans have consumed parts of the cannabis plant for thousands of years, and there is no evidence demonstrating that prohibiting cannabis has stopped humans from using cannabis. Conversely, there is considerable evidence that cannabis prohibition policies have harmed a massive list of human lives.
In addition to determining that the world is home to 244 million cannabis consumers, the report also lists the following about cannabis:
- 76% of cannabis consumers are men, 24% are women
- 5,749 tons of cannabis flower were seized in 2023, down 8% compared to the previous year
- 1,236 tons of cannabis ‘resin’ were seized in 2023, up 4% compared to the previous year
- Africa accounted for 44% cannabis seized worldwide in 2023
- Cannabis has increased by 34% over the past decade
- Cannabis use remains highest in North America
“Trafficking in cannabis herb remains mostly an intraregional issue in Western and Central Europe; there continue to be, however, substantial imports of cannabis resin into the subregion from North Africa.” the report stated.
The report places a heavy reliance on the number of people in drug treatment for cannabis as a measurement for ‘growing concerns’ about the substance. However, the report does not mention how many of those people are voluntarily in drug treatment for cannabis versus being forced to go to drug treatment for cannabis against their will.
As part of prohibition penalties in many jurisdictions, people caught with cannabis are forced into drug treatment, whether they truly have a cannabis use problem or not. Using my father as an example, one of the times that he was caught with cannabis, he was forced into drug rehab even though he wasn’t a cannabis consumer for many years at that point.
Despite the rehab staff never finding cannabis in my father’s system via their ongoing drug tests, my father was determined to have ‘problematic cannabis use disorder’ and he was forced to continue with weekly rehab appointments, with each appointment involving a hefty fee to both the rehab facility and the government.
This is important context that needs to be considered whenever cannabis-based drug treatment data is reported, like what is included in the UN report. Cannabis prohibition does not work and harms lives. Regulation is a much more sensible approach to cannabis policy.