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What is the greatest number of people who, for non-medical purposes, use a newly discovered drug at any year between 2021 and 2070?

World drug report estimates 188M users of cannabis and 21M users of ecstasy worldwide in 2017. It also mentions that 892 new psychoactive substances were reported to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime early warning advisory in 2005-2018 period, however, none of them lead in worldwide usage statistics.

Suppose some chemical compound (e.g. newly synthesized drug) is first reported to be non-medically (e.g. recreational) consumed by humans after 2021 inclusively.

What is the estimated worldwide number of users of any such drug at any year between 2021 and 2070 (inclusively)?

  • Drugs qualify only if the first reports of non-medical (e.g. recreational) consumption emerges after 2020

  • Non-medical consumption here includes a wide range of use-cases including recreation and using drugs for physical, cognitive, emotional effects, but does not include usage primarily for treating/preventing diseases or aging

Categories: Social Issues – Controlled Substances

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