Low drug usage for Lithuania

VILNIUS - Lithuania ranks among the last ten countries among Eastern and Central European countries in terms of the spread and usage of drugs, shows statistical data published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Compared to other countries across the globe, the Lithuanian rate of drug usage and is low.

Although Lithuania ranked 29th among 32 Eastern and Central European countries surveyed for the usage of cannabis, the department's director Audrone Astrauskiene says that efforts against the type of drug required special attention.

"Both the global and the national surveys show that cannabis remain the most popular drug in the world," Astrauskiene said in the press release.

About 7.5 percent of Lithuanian people of 15-64 years of age said they had tried cannabis at least once in their lifetime. The latest 2008 research suggests that every third university student in Lithuania have tried cannabis.

According to the UNODC data, the usage of other types of drugs in Lithuania is not very popular: the country ranks 25th in terms of ecstasy usage (0.4 of the population have tried it), 24th in terms of cocaine usage (0.3 percent) and 22nd in terms of amphetamine usage (0.3 percent).

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime works to fight against illicit drugs and international crime.