Global statistics on alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use: 2017 status report

Amy Peacock; Janni Leung; Sarah Larney; Samantha Colledge; Matthew Hickman; Jürgen Rehm; Gary A Giovino; Robert West; Wayne Hall; Paul Griffiths; Robert Ali; Linda Gowing; John Marsden; Alize J Ferrari; Jason Grebely; Michael Farrell; Louisa Degenhardt

doi:10.1111/add.14234

Global statistics on alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use: 2017 status report

Addiction. 2018 Oct;113(10):1905-1926. doi: 10.1111/add.14234. Epub 2018 Jun 4.

Authors

Amy Peacock^{1

2}, Janni Leung^{1

3

4

5

6}, Sarah Larney^{1

7}, Samantha Colledge¹, Matthew Hickman⁸, Jürgen Rehm^{9

10

11

12

13

14}, Gary A Giovino¹⁵, Robert West¹⁶, Wayne Hall^{4

17}, Paul Griffiths¹⁸, Robert Ali¹⁹, Linda Gowing¹⁹, John Marsden¹⁷, Alize J Ferrari^{3

5

6}, Jason Grebely²⁰, Michael Farrell¹, Louisa Degenhardt^{1

21

22

23}

Affiliations

¹ National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
² School of Medicine (Psychology), University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
³ School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia.
⁴ Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
⁵ Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
⁶ Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, Wacol, Queensland, Australia.
⁷ Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
⁸ Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
⁹ Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁰ Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹¹ Institute of Medical Science (IMS), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹² Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹³ Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁴ Institute for Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Dresden, Germany.
¹⁵ Department of Community Health and Health Behavior, University at Buffalo, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, UK.
¹⁷ Addictions Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
¹⁸ European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction, Lisbon, Portugal.
¹⁹ University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
²⁰ Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
²¹ School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
²² Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
²³ Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, University of Washington, WA, USA.

PMID: 29749059
DOI: 10.1111/add.14234

Abstract

Aims: This review provides an up-to-date curated source of information on alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use and their associated mortality and burden of disease. Limitations in the data are also discussed, including how these can be addressed in the future.

Methods: Online data sources were identified through expert review. Data were obtained mainly from the World Health Organization, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

Results: In 2015, the estimated prevalence among the adult population was 18.4% for heavy episodic alcohol use (in the past 30 days); 15.2% for daily tobacco smoking; and 3.8, 0.77, 0.37 and 0.35% for past-year cannabis, amphetamine, opioid and cocaine use, respectively. European regions had the highest prevalence of heavy episodic alcohol use and daily tobacco use. The age-standardized prevalence of alcohol dependence was 843.2 per 100 000 people; for cannabis, opioids, amphetamines and cocaine dependence it was 259.3, 220.4, 86.0 and 52.5 per 100 000 people, respectively. High-income North America region had among the highest rates of cannabis, opioid and cocaine dependence. Attributable disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) were highest for tobacco smoking (170.9 million DALYs), followed by alcohol (85.0 million) and illicit drugs (27.8 million). Substance-attributable mortality rates were highest for tobacco smoking (110.7 deaths per 100 000 people), followed by alcohol and illicit drugs (33.0 and 6.9 deaths per 100 000 people, respectively). Attributable age-standardized mortality rates and DALYs for alcohol and illicit drugs were highest in eastern Europe; attributable age-standardized tobacco mortality rates and DALYs were highest in Oceania.

Conclusions: In 2015 alcohol use and tobacco smoking use between them cost the human population more than a quarter of a billion disability-adjusted life years, with illicit drugs costing further tens of millions. Europeans suffered proportionately more, but in absolute terms the mortality rate was greatest in low- and middle-income countries with large populations and where the quality of data was more limited. Better standardized and rigorous methods for data collection, collation and reporting are needed to assess more accurately the geographical and temporal trends in substance use and its disease burden.

Keywords: Alcohol; amphetamine; cannabis; cocaine; epidemiology; mortality; opioid; prevalence; substance dependence; tobacco.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Alcohol Drinking / epidemiology*
Alcoholism / epidemiology
Global Burden of Disease
Global Health
Humans
Mortality
Prevalence
Substance-Related Disorders / epidemiology*
Tobacco Smoking / epidemiology*
Tobacco Use / epidemiology
United Nations
World Health Organization

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding