A record number of people are now snorting cocaine worldwide, a United Nations report suggests.
According to estimates from the agency’s Bureau of Drugs and Crime, more than 22 million people used the drug at least once in 2021, the latest available year.
This was five percent more than the 21 million last year and almost a third compared to ten years ago. It was also the fourth year in a row that usage has risen.
A total of 296 million people will be using drugs by 2021, the report found, which was 23 percent more than a decade ago.
The agency warned that the world was experiencing a “prolonged surge” in the supply and demand of cocaine – one of the most popular drugs in countries like the United States. They warned that this risked opening up new markets in other countries.
The graph above shows how much land is used to grow the coca plant, which is used to make cocaine. Estimates suggest this is now at record levels (green line) with Colombia, Peru and Bolivia being the top growers
The above shows the estimated number of people using cocaine worldwide through the year 2020. The estimates for 2021 put the new figure at 22 million
In the United States, cocaine is a Schedule II substance alongside fentanyl, methamphetamine, and morphine. In the UK it is a class A drug – or one of the drugs with the greatest potential for abuse.
In their report, the UN agency warned: ‘The world is currently experiencing a prolonged increase in both demand and supply of cocaine, which is now being felt around the world.
‘[It] likely to stimulate the development of new markets beyond traditional boundaries.’
The estimates were made based on data on cocaine use reported to the agency by more than a dozen countries.
The agency didn’t say whether they thought this was likely an underestimation.
According to the report, most of the cocaine market is in the Americas, where the top manufacturers are Colombia, Peru and Bolivia.
But it has also found a large market in Western and Central Europe and Australia.
Markets in Africa, Asia and Southeast Europe are also growing rapidly, albeit from a low level.
It was the most commonly used drug in the UK, Canada, Australia and France, among others.
In the United States, it was the most commonly used drug behind cannabis, which is federally illegal but has been decriminalized in many states.
The report also said that a record amount of farmland is now being transferred for cultivation of the coca plant, which is used to make cocaine.
Estimates suggested that 315,000 hectares are now used for this plant, while total production reached 2,304 tons. Both numbers are record highs.
The amount of cocaine seized was 2,026 tons in 2021, with the agency saying its growth has outpaced production.
The above shows cocaine seizures by their magnitude around the world. Most are located in South America and throughout Europe
This shows the estimated supply of cocaine available when seizures are taken out of production numbers
In the cocaine supply chain, farmers sell their leaves to drug cartels who process them in a “super lab” where they use acid to extract the cocaine compound.
This is then smuggled to the market as a white powder or by hiding it in other items such as charcoal and some plastics, from which it can be extracted.
In the United States, cocaine is the second most popular drug after only cannabis.
Leading up to 2002, there was an increase in the drug’s use, amid higher availability and fewer attacks, according to the addiction center FHE Health in Florida.
But then it started to decline, hitting a low point between 2012 and 2016, before rising slightly and then leveling off to over a million people a year.
America is currently battling a drug crisis fueled by cocaine, heroin and other drugs laced with fentanyl, a powerful sedative 50 times more potent than heroin.
The roots of the US drug crisis go back to the 1990s, when pharmaceutical companies began aggressively marketing opioid painkillers as a safe and effective way to treat chronic pain.
The companies convinced doctors that the risk of addiction was low, prompting them to write prescriptions for millions of Americans.
When these ran out, many eventually turned to the black market to continue using the drugs as they had become addicted, and many turned to heroin as a cheaper and more accessible alternative.
This led to today’s crisis when manufacturers started mixing drugs like heroin with fentanyl.