ladbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Huge Study Reveals Which Drugs Do The Most And Least Harm

Huge Study Reveals Which Drugs Do The Most And Least Harm

You might be surprised.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Drugs have different effects on different people, but there are definitely some substances which are worse than others.

The Global Drug Survey (GDS) publishes a document every year to highlight what the current trends are, as well as which substance causes the most number of visits to emergency rooms. It collates data from nearly 120,000 people from more than 50 countries.

The GDS's results for this year reveals that methamphetamine has been responsible for the most drug-related hospitalisations across the world. More than eight percent of female respondents and 3.7 percent of male ones are reported to have needed ER treatment after taking the drug.

via GIPHY

While you might be thinking, 'duh, meth is a really shitty drug', synthetic cannabis has actually been on top of the list for the last three surveys.

The average number of hospitalisations for meth is 4.8 percent, compared with synthetic cannabis, which came in second at 3.2 percent. Alcohol and MDMA/ecstasy are close behind at 1.3 percent and 1.2 percent respectively.

The drug responsible for the least amount of hospital visits is magic mushrooms, with cannabis and LSD also causing minimal impact on the ER.

The study says: "The rate is considerably lower than with LSD presumably because of intrinsic safety of magic mushrooms (the greatest risk is picking the wrong type), the smaller dosing using units (a single mushroom vs an LSD tab) and greater understanding of how many mushrooms may constitute a typical dose for a desired effect in your region."

via GIPHY

Surprisingly, the majority of respondents say they would prefer to use online services to help them either reduce or stop their drug use.

In terms of general drug use across the world, the GDS says: "Cannabis remains the world's most widely used 'illicit' drug. Regulatory change in many countries and the development of new technologies to deliver cannabis in less harmful ways are an important accompaniment to this change and pave the way for new public health approaches to reducing the public health harms associated with its use."

via GIPHY

Nearly 22 percent of American respondents say that they would light up a J within five minutes to an hour after waking up.

That's more than double the global average at 10.3 percent. It appears that the US is also the country which likes their doobies pure - with only eight percent using tobacco with their cannabis. That's in stark contrast to Italy, Greece and Hungary, with 93-94 percent of citizens padding out their spliff.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Study, World News, Drugs, Health

Choose your content: