WHO: NZ SECOND TO US IN CANNABIS, COCAINE USE

New Zealand ranks second only to the United States in a scientific
survey of illegal cocaine and cannabis use in 17 countries.

The study uses data from the countries participating in the World
Health Organisation's world mental health survey.

It found that 16.2 per cent of people in the United States reported
having used using cocaine at some time.

The second highest level of cocaine use was in New Zealand, where 4.3
per cent of people reported having used the drug.

Cannabis use was highest in the US (42.4 per cent), followed by New
Zealand (41.9 per cent).

The research was based on interviews with 85,052 participants in 17
countries.

Sample sizes ranged from 2372 in the Netherlands to 12,992 in New
Zealand, and most of the interviews were done face-to-face.

Participants were asked whether they had used alcohol, tobacco,
cannabis, or cocaine.

The results of the survey were published yesterday in the journal of
the Public Library of Science, PLoS ONE.

While New Zealand and the United States were closely matched in the
proportion of people who reported having used cannabis, the US was far
ahead cocaine use.

New Zealand cocaine use was much closer to the levels of around 4 per
cent reported in Colombia, Mexico and Spain.

Low proportions of cocaine use were reported in the Middle East,
Africa, and Asia.

Differences in illegal drug use were more marked among young adults.
By the age of age 15, drug users in New Zealand (27 per cent) and the
US (20 per cent) had the highest levels of cannabis use, with almost
no use in Asia, Middle East, or Africa.

Only 7 per cent of teens in the Netherlands had used cannabis by the
age of 15.

The majority of young adults in New Zealand (62 per cent) and the US
(54 per cent) had used it by the age of 21, compared with 35 per cent
of those in the Netherlands.

Drug use "does not appear to be simply related to drug policy", the
report authors said.

Countries with stringent policies towards illegal drug use often had
higher levels of such drug use than countries with more liberal policies.