Drug use is one of the biggest problems in the world but it is also a source of income for many people around the world. Countries that are known as drug trafficking countries have numerous issues closely connected with drug trade and violence is much higher. According to the United Nations Drug Office on Drugs and Crime report for 2017, 29.5 million people around the world suffer from drug use disorders. Beware that this number refers only to those people who suffer from drug-related disorders and not the number of drug users. Opioids are the most harmful type of drug, accounted for 70% of negative health impact associated with drugs. “Opioids” is a term used for the entire family of opiates including synthetic and natural opioids. Opiates cover a large range of drugs, some of which can be legally acquired. Examples of opiate include heroin, morphine, oxycodone, codeine, etc.

Insider Monkey staff compiled a list of 17 countries with biggest drug problems in the world and it is very interesting how some of this countries deal with drug related problems. A couple of countries on this list decided to decriminalize the use of drugs, including heroin and cocaine. It sounds like a radical and strange move but results are more than encouraging since drug use in these countries is slowly decreasing. Decriminalization of drugs implies the use of fines or other punishments instead of prison terms. Individuals who are repeatedly caught with drugs in their possession may be directed towards various treatments, including counseling or opiate substitution therapy. Portugal is one of the countries which introduced decriminalization of drugs and the first reaction to such a decision was criticism. However, Portugal is nowadays used as an example of a country which reduced the number of drug users by decriminalization of drugs. This world has huge drug-related issues and I believe that we can all agree it’s worth trying whatever appears to show good results.