The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates the total value of the global amphetamines market (excluding ecstasy) to be valued at $28.25 billion.

Number of users worldwide: 24.9 million.

Source: United Nations, “2005 World Drug Report,” Office on Drugs and Crime, June 2005, pg. 140.

One in four adults living in Scotland have taken illegal drugs at least once in their life, according to a report by the Scottish Government.

The most used drug was marijuana, followed by amphetamines, ecstasy, and cocaine.

Source: “‘One in four’ Scots has taken drugs,” BBC News, January 26, 2010.

According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, the following figures represent the number of users of illicit drugs in Europe as of 2009.

• 22.5 million people used a cannabis product such as marijuana in the European Union in 2008.
• 2 million people used amphetamines in the EU in 2008.
• 4 million people used cocaine in the EU in 2008.
• 1.4 million people used opiate products such as heroin in 2007 (last available year)

Source:  “Annual Report 2009: The State Of The Drug Problem In Europe,” European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, November 2009.

Source: 2007 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, “Canada, Mexico, and Central America: Mexico,” United States Department of State, March 2007.(accessed: March 2, 2007).

Japan is one of the world’s largest markets for methamphetamines with approximately 80 percent of all drug arrests in Japan involved methamphetamines.

Source: 2007 International Narcotics Control Strategy, “Southeast Asia: Japan,”, United States Department of State, March 2007.

Law enforcement officials estimates that there are 600,000 meth addicts and between 1 to 3 million casual users in Japan.

Source: 2007 International Narcotics Control Strategy, “Southeast Asia: Japan,”, United States Department of State, March 2007.