Which country consumes the most cannabis in the world?

What country's biggest cannabis consumer ? The result may surprise you.

On the occasion of its report The Tide Effect: How the Word is Changing its on Cannabis, the British think-tank Adam Smith Institute has compiled a list of the world's biggest cannabis consumers, based on figures from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). In addition to this list, the group points out that the current drug management strategy is a failure and that the cannabis to be legalized in the UK to put an end to trafficking-related crime, corruption and death worldwide.

The report estimates that legalization would reduce organized crime, improve the quality and safety of cannabis and fill the coffers of the public purse.

A number of countries have already rethought their management of cannabis in recent years. Visit Portugal, for example, has decriminalized all drugs in 2001, while the’Uruguay legalized cannabis in 2013.

Top 30 countries for cannabis consumption

Here is the Adam Smith Institute's list of the world's biggest cannabis users. Each percentage indicates the prevalence of use as a percentage of the population.

1. Iceland: 18.3%
2. United States: 16.2%
3. Nigeria: 14.3%
4. Canada: 12.7%
5. Chile: 11,83%
6. France: 11.1%
7. New Zealand: 11%
8. Bermuda: 10.9%
9. Australia: 10.2%
10. Zambia: 9.5%
11. Uruguay: 9.3%
12. Spain: 9.2%
13. Italy: 9.2%
14. Madagascar: 9.1%
15. Czech Republic: 8.9%
16. Israel: 8,88%
17. Saint Lucia: 8,87%
18. Belize: 8.45%
19. Barbados : 8,3%
20. Netherlands: 8%
21. Greenland: 7.6%
22. Jamaica: 7,21%
23. Denmark: 6.9%
24. Switzerland: 6.7%
25. Egypt: 6.24%
26. United Kingdom: 6.2%
27. Ireland: 6%
28. Estonia: 6%
29. Bahamas: 5,54%
30. Sierra Leone: 5.42%

UNODC figures suggest that cannabis is used by 18.3% of the Icelandic population between the ages of 15 and 64. France comes 6th with 11.1%, while the Netherlands, where coffeeshops selling cannabis under state control, only come in 20th place. Surprising? We ask you 😉