UN Report lists Scotland on the top of cocaine users chart

Edinburgh (Scotland), June 24 (ANI): The World Drug Report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has revealed that Scotland has the highest levels of adults using cocaine in the world.

"The annual prevalence of cocaine use among the adult population in Scotland was 3.7 per cent in 2005 and 2009" The Scotsman quoted the report, as saying.

"The largest national cocaine market within Europe is the United Kingdom, followed by Spain, Italy, Germany and France. Cocaine use prevalence levels are higher in the UK and Spain than in the United States," the report said.

The report, however, stated that the global area under opium poppy cultivation declined to 181,400 hectares in 2009, or by 23 per cent, since 2007.

"Consumption is still growing in the UK and in some of the smaller European markets, however, North America is the largest regional cocaine market, with close to 40 per cent of the global cocaine-using population," it added.

"Cannabis remains the most widely consumed drug worldwide," the report said. (ANI)