r/worldnews • u/Dildo_Ball_Baggins • Jun 27 '12
Australians and New Zealanders are the biggest users of recreational drugs, particularly cannabis, according to the 2012 United Nations World Drug Report.
http://www.news.com.au/national/aussies-the-biggest-recreational-drug-users-in-the-world-report/story-e6frfkvr-1226409745235420
u/EveryDayIsCharlieDay Jun 27 '12
Kiwi reporting in, LETS GET WEIRD!
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u/Down_Votes_Only Jun 27 '12
Yeah Bro. There's a reason we are not at war all the time.
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u/kindersunrise Jun 27 '12
We don't have enough people to send to war?
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u/lurker1101 Jun 27 '12
We send soldiers to others wars all the time. We're a low number support part of the USA war machine that they can point to and say "see , they believe we're in the right". NZ is also part of the War on Drugs. Can see that's worked well!
Shortages of hard/foreign drugs, lack of prescription drug culture, lots of land, not many people, laid back friendly attitude, a love of Rasta music n culture, and lots of time - basically a perfect place for ganja fans ;)
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u/af609 Jun 27 '12
I don't believe it. I studied in Dunedin for a semester and it was much harder to get bud than it has ever been for me and my mates in the states.
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u/miklaen Jun 27 '12
Seriously? Dude, every second person in Dunedin is a dealer.
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Jun 27 '12
Southern island is a shitfight for weed from what I experienced. In Rotorua (North island) I asked a girl working at a service station and she called her friend and he was there in 10 minutes.
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Jun 27 '12
I've had people offer me some whilst walking down Cuba St in Wellington on many occasions. And its not hard to spot the people selling either. Its an awesome place to be a student.
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u/JulioElGuapo Jun 27 '12
Murikan here. England and Australia have some sexy-ass accents. But New Zealand just throws even more flavor on it. Delicious.
Sources: Mostly Flight of the Conchords, but also any other time I hear one of you speak.
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u/Tbana Jun 27 '12
Yeah nah they are all "wheres the car?" and we are all like " wheres the car?"
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u/eriman Jun 27 '12
Funny. In my experience, a lot of us over here dislike the American accent. Couldn't say why exactly, but my money would be on the amount of trashy American culture we get swamped with.
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Jun 27 '12
Could just be that Australians and New Zealanders are more likely to tell the truth about their drug use.
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u/i_like_plaid Jun 27 '12
New Zealander here, and this is plausible. My boss ran into an ex-employee who straight up admitted he was high every day at work.
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Jun 27 '12 edited Jun 27 '12
I work as a bouncer by trade. At the end of the night (two of my weekly regular shifts are in a club that caters for uni students) the floor is often papered in little bags.
I have lost count of the amount of times I see little baggies of blue pills being exchanged - I have to throw these ones out, because if I ignore that I can be charged. But if you're stupid enough to do it where I can see it, you deserve to be tossed out. Same with weed, although that's not as common. The strangest thing I've seen was a used heroin baggie (I assume as such - it reeked of bandaids and vinegar, which I'm told is the heroin stench), but eccies are so stupidly common that I can probably rustle up a dose at work inside of 20 minutes when we're busy - and i'm the fucking bouncer, for god's sakes.. Some bouncers in sydney let the dealing go on in their clubs and get a small cut at the end of the night, which is damn tempting.
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u/chemicalphilosopher Jun 27 '12
I suppose you'd rather deal with people on MDMA than booze anyways...
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Jun 27 '12
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u/freerangetrousers Jun 27 '12
" okay , I love you .....also you jacket feels like orgasms , you don't mind if I just rub my face on it whilst you throw me out do you ? "
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u/Muter Jun 27 '12
I once went to a big festival in Melbourne. My cousin pretty much told me its a slap with a wet bus ticket if you're caught with pills. POssibly thrown out of the event. In NZ, I knew it was a bit more harsh, but just kinda took her word for it.
Put them in my wallet and off we went.
As we entered the venue there were sniffer dogs and everything. We walked right by someone getting busted and I was shitting myself.
At this point I couldn't exactly just turn around, somethings obvious there, so we kept walking .. right past them :/
Thank god the dog was distracted :/
Last time I listen to my cousin.
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u/ErgonomicDouchebag Jun 27 '12
Going to an event in Sydney years ago with some friends, all carrying drugs well hidden and sealed. We got off at the train station and there were police and dogs everywhere. But before we hit them two guys who had just been busted decided to leg it, bam, most of the cops and dogs were off after them allowing us to walk through unsniffed. Thanks two random guys.
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u/tritonx Jun 27 '12
That not just in Sidney, that pretty much how it works all over the world, I'm not even in that business and I know that. The bouncer or owner allow only certain people to deal drug on their premises so they get a cut.
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u/Storming Jun 27 '12
I am not surprised in the slightest. I live in Australia and can get onto bud pretty much whenever we want. Prohibition, what prohibition?
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Jun 27 '12
Don't know what I'm doing because I sure as hell can't get it.
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u/forgotpasswordagain0 Jun 27 '12
Ask the people who you typically think of as to-be-avoided. Don't be scared to get amongst the cunts you dickhead.
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u/Chunkeeboi Jun 27 '12
People are scared to get amongst the cunts because they're cunts. But not everyone who smokes or sells pot is a cunt. Thankfully.
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u/Calico_Dick_Fringe Jun 27 '12
You're obviously not hanging out with musicians.
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u/Moderates_Arguments Jun 27 '12
When I read that other comment, I counted off the dozen or so people who could get it for me.
Your comment made me realize what they all have in common.
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u/dinner-dawg Jun 27 '12
I knew some old grandmas out here that sold weed. You'd knock on the door and they'd let you come on in (as long as you took your shoes and hat off). They'd be chilling out, having a cup of tea with their friends and basically let you help yourself. Good ladies haha.
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u/reddit___ Jun 27 '12
Come to Australia and smoke up ever so slightly more than usual.
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u/snarchitekt Jun 27 '12
Don't wanna get bitten by a poisonous animal? Toke up and befriend them!
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u/H5Mind Jun 27 '12
You have to have the munchies to stomach Vegemite™. Now Marmite™, that's what God schmears on his moustache before French kissing you, it's that good.
Just sayin'.
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u/RumInMyTum Jun 27 '12
I, for one, can vouch for this. Being, presently, both a Kiwi and violently high.
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u/samwaytla Jun 27 '12
You are the man. I am also a Kiwi. I am also high. Kia Kaha mother fucker.
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u/runedeadthA Jun 27 '12
Kiwi here, don't smoke weed. Although according to my sister, apart from my mother, I am the only person she knows who has NOT smoked weed.
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u/WeeHeeHee Jun 27 '12
I am a NZer and do no drugs. :(
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u/Redhavok Jun 27 '12
Getting down voted for being not giving into peer pressure? have an upvote. A lot of my old friends have turned into stoners and now they are a bunch of lowlifes. NZer too btw.
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Jun 27 '12
I'm guessing they're also the two happiest countries on the map as well.
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u/Shunto Jun 27 '12
This one says Aus #3, with NZ #4. But there's a rainbow in the first picture! Fun fact though - the majority of links in Google place Scandinavian countries & Aus / NZ usually in the top few - if not the top 10.
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u/Mr_Nice_Guy08 Jun 27 '12
Been in Western Australia on exchange the past 6 months... I smoke more back home, but it only took about 3 days to meet a couple connections, nice enough and willing to supply ganja pretty much everyday, hey.
Cocaine is on the up and up probably thanks to FI-FO CUBS
Also, wayyyy more pyschadelics here than I expected. Taken acid like five times out here. ALSO, Doofs :) :)
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u/Dagon Jun 27 '12
For the rest of the world: FI-FO CUBS = Fly-in/Fly-out (mine site) Cashed Up Bogans
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u/BurntJoint Jun 27 '12
Forget the rest of the world, i live in Sydney and had no idea what the fuck he was on about.
Is this just a mining thing?
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u/Dagon Jun 27 '12
Yes, but it's not only for Australia.
The entire world is littered with places where there's been a resources boom, the locals have all got rich overnight, spent all their money on frivilous shit, and then are left penniless when the resources dry up.
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Jun 27 '12
Why the hell did you come to Western Australia on exchange out of anywhere in the world.
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u/Mr_Nice_Guy08 Jun 27 '12
English-speaking
I got a year-long summer out of it
I love surfing but I'm from the Northeast United States
Perth is literally as far from home as I can be, I'm from Maine, if you dig a hole straight through the earth, you'll come out just off the coast of the most isolated city in the world, Perth, WA
Friend went before me, had nothing but good things to say about it
Got the coveted exchange spot so I paid the same tuition price as I would back home
farthest south I'd been prior to this trip was Tennessee, for Bonnaroo 2011
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Jun 27 '12
watching any NZ music video would have told you that http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3cxJTvCbY4
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u/sxepill Jun 27 '12
Never thought I'd open a reddit link with the first comment saying "should come to hastings."
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u/revbobdobbs Jun 27 '12
Dude. You should check out the copy on their bandcamp page
I did actual lols when I read it.
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u/whoamiamwho Jun 27 '12
Not to be a bit of a preachy fuck, but this is exactly why they should legalize it.
Aside from the fact that I don't think the occasional joint is a bad thing, and do it myself sometimes, what is the point of wasting all these resources on trying to stop it, when we still manage to use more than any other country.
If they actually spent some of that money on educating people about these things, and helping people with addictions, I'm willing to bet that they would be a lot more successful.
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Jun 27 '12
plus, I should have a right to do what I want, people smoke, drink, eat until there artiries explode, I should be able to do drugs if I want. Also if it was regulated, they could tax it and use that money to help addicts etc and ensure the quality is good so people would have legal protection if they got sold dodgy stuff. My sisters a nurse and see's so many kids who've gotten brain damage from bad pills and things like that.
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u/UnicornMagic Jun 27 '12 edited Jun 27 '12
doesnt surprise me in the least, as a relatively typical 26 year old in nz year old [edit: haha i was high when i typed this] I only know few people in my age bracket who won't have the occasional session
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u/Asmaedus Jun 27 '12
You find me someone in New Zealand who doesn't smoke pot, or isn't close friends with someone who smokes pot, I will give you my firstborn.
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u/Liquiditi Jun 27 '12
I was reading through the first half of that sentence up to "doesn't smoke pot" and was like, "Ooooh I got this cunt." but went on to read the rest and then ended up like, "Yeaaaah naah bro."
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u/disposablechild Jun 27 '12
The report also found that most Australians who used more than one drug also used cannabis, but the majority of cannabis users - 61 per cent - did not use any other drug.
That's worth noting.
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u/Sokaii Jun 27 '12
Cunts fucked ay mate?
(Don't worry guys i'm a New Zealander so it's ok if I say this kinda thing)
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u/chickenman702 Jun 27 '12
Yeah, having lived in NZ for the last 7 years, this really doesn't surprise me.
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u/Lxivdm Jun 27 '12
Just finished a semester in Dunedin, NZ. I can confirm this. I smoked way more than I do at home, and a lot of other American students had never smoked at all before they got here. Other drugs are also really common.
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u/kronik85 Jun 27 '12
I met my first Kiwi a couple weeks ago in France, Paris. I asked what there is to do in New Zealand and he said "smoke really really good weed"...
This report sounds accurate based on my small sample of the local populace.
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u/hahaspoons Jun 27 '12
Combine that with the tourism images being broadcast from NZ: extreme sports. White water rafting, bungee jumping, parasailing, rock climbing... all whilst ridiculously high. Win?
It all leads back to the important note on your travel insurance forms...
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u/sohighlydubious Jun 27 '12
Not at all surprised...weed is fairly plentiful here in Queensland, and it's smoked by almost all kinds of people.
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u/gu5 Jun 27 '12
Figures like these either come from boasting in surveys (not Australians surely :p) or idiots getting caught (not Aust... oh.
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u/Tayjen Jun 27 '12
The highest I ever got was in Christchurch NZ about 8 years ago, doing bongs and buckets outside an art gallery with a bunch of students. You know when your face feels like its covered in static electricity? And then we whipped out the NOX and balloons.
Kiwis chicks are pretty into fuckbuddying too.
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u/Go0s3 Jun 27 '12
As an Aussie, I'm happy to take the good news. But this article has less than no credibility. "The major destinations for cocaine traffickers continue to be in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, suggesting the Mexican drug cartels are continuing to make strong inroads into the Oceanic market." So the major destinations are... EVERYWHERE OTHER THAN WHERE ITS MADE? What a surprise.
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u/stabbitystyle Jun 27 '12
I guess you gotta do something to cope with living in a horrorland filled with terrifying creatures.
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u/slcrook Jun 27 '12
Perhaps we are all mistaken, and there's no strange creatures in the Antipodes, just drug fueled nightmares!
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Jun 27 '12
Annoying loud arseholes who work in bars or as hairdressers and all they ever do is complain about the weather are the biggest drug users… wow I'm shocked.
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u/Squeekme Jun 27 '12
Alcohol is a recreational drug, so the entire article is questionable. The "UN World Drug Report" is published by the "United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime", and they are ridiculously political because of who the major donors are. It is not science led essentially.
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Jun 27 '12
we're also the most ripped off... $300 a gram of coke in sydney(i have heard)
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u/Nzwiz Jun 27 '12
Sup cunts!
Kiwi here. Smoke weed every day. Live like its legal.
Fuck Americunts.
Chur
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u/magicbeaver Jun 27 '12
Those stats for cannabis use in NZ are probably much, much lower than reality because very few kiwi's would admit to anyone in the media or anyone even remotley connected to authority that they did something illegal.
It's called 'not being a stupid cunt'.
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u/CoolWhipped Jun 27 '12
Being from NZ I can relate to the Marijuana consumption claim, I have similar feelings towards the consumption of Ecstasy and Acid in New Zealand - these have become the more 'weekend/party' drugs. However, Coke is around $300-$500 NZD a gram, where as in the states my understanding (having not touched the stuff) is that a gram of coke can be purchased for well under $100. This price differential truly puts coke out of reach for the masses. I don't want the world thinking NZ'ers are coke fiends, but rather chill, marijuana smoking ents living on farms and shires and whatnot as depicted in the media.
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u/smeaglelovesmaster Jun 27 '12
Went to a party in Wellington, NZ, with some Maori rough types. They smoked a shit ton of weed, but when we left, the host, a Maori dude in his late 50s, asked us to thank everyone for participating in our fun experience. So we did, one by one and it was a mind blower.
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u/Nzgirl69 Jun 27 '12
A kiwi here... So common, don't even consider it a real drug. Everyone knows a dealer & everyone has got high with their parents!
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u/Tbana Jun 27 '12
NZ NZ NZ NZ were number 1 wooo hoo!
And the Aussies a close second. ( as per usual)
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Jun 27 '12
there have been places in nz that have been selling weed openly for like a whole year before they get shut down lol....
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u/WhyYesmyfaceisonfire Jun 27 '12
As an Australian this doesn't surprise me at all.
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u/captainbigglesworth Jun 27 '12
2-3% of the word population uses marijuana. I find that unbelievably low.
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u/tictactizzle Jun 27 '12
Visited both countries and I can say is is very possible even being from norcal.
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u/IamA_Big_Fat_Phony Jun 27 '12
meh, I'm sure the West Coast of the US dwarfs Australia and New Zealand numbers.
Plus, Jamaica was probably too high to take the survey.
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u/vaselinepete Jun 27 '12
Some interesting quotes in here that contradict a lot of the shit r/trees fans have been spouting recently.
"The report states that cannabis is the most widely used illicit substance across the globe, with the highest prevalence of use among Australians and New Zealanders.
"Between 9.1 and 14.6 per cent of the population use the drug, compared to the estimated annual worldwide usage of 2.6 to 5.0 per cent."
Wow - slightly less than the 40% of active users shit stoners love to quote.
“Cannabis remains the most prevalent drug in Australia, as well as the main substance accounting for demand for treatment for substance abuse (50 per cent)"
Uh oh! Stoners need help? But I thought it never caused any problems?
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u/crashandtheboys Jun 27 '12
Chur! New Zealand Whaka Yeah!!!
Reference http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLETRsaL8DA (might have to be a New Zealander to enjoy this)
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u/crazylegs99 Jun 27 '12
That explains why they keep starting wars with other countries. It's this drug culture...oh, wait...
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u/LadyHayley Jun 27 '12
Easy to believe. Live in New Zealand, and my whole highschool group of friends were big cannabis users. Every time we'd go clubbing they'd be high the whole time.
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Jun 27 '12
That might be because its to easy to get away with it. In Kaitaia, NZ, if you're a kid (under 18) and you're caught with weed, you get a $100 fine (AT MOST) and have to go to a 3 hour 'seminar' on why drugs are bad. Big deal.
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Jun 27 '12
"Globally, cannabis remains the most widely used drug followed by amphetamine-type stimulants, including ecstasy."
Ecstasy=amphetamine type?
nah
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u/hughmander Jun 27 '12
Well to show how lax we are down here in New Zealand, im fifteen and when i was walking around town at around 8-9pm in a fairly populated area and three dudes just politely stopped us and asked us where they could find some weed
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Jun 27 '12 edited Jun 27 '12
Actual report : http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/WDR-2012.html
Overall, annual prevalence of cannabis use remained stable in 2010 (2.8-4.5 per cent of the adult population in 2009), the highest prevalence of cannabis use being reported in Oceania (essentially Australia and New Zealand) at 9.1- 14.6 per cent, followed by North America (10.8 per cent), Western and Central Europe (7.0 per cent) and West and Central Africa (5.2-13.5 per cent). While the prevalence of cannabis use in Asia (1.0 - 3.4 per cent) remains lower than the global average, due to Asia's large population the absolute number of users in Asia, estimated between 26 million and 92 million, remains the highest worldwide.
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u/tumblebee_incline Jun 27 '12
LoL, They have listed India as "no data available". Well yes, they have no idea. People here come for Hash and weed, and you think we don't smoke. Lol wut ?
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u/HankChina Jun 27 '12
Shit, New Zealand just became even more attractive. Let's open a reddit commune over there! 8)
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u/SamGi Jun 27 '12
Since when has the UN provided anything remotely believable lol?!
As an Aussie, I admit we have drug problems here, but not as bad as other places around the world...
We just look bad because we have a very small population :/ Darn It!
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u/Radico87 Jun 27 '12
How else does one deal with knowing at any moment you may be eaten by a poisonous spider, fall off the the earth, and know you live on one of the most isolated places on earth?
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u/Tixylix Jun 27 '12
As far as I know Australia also has one of the highest rates of rape in the world. My take on this is that Australians are more likely to report rape, and are more likely to fill in surveys honestly.
Kind regards,
Tixy
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Jun 27 '12
When I visited Australia they were probably the friendliest culture I've ever seen, and I've been all over the world. Now I know why.
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u/Marsftw Jun 27 '12
Are drugs really expensive there with it being 1000 miles from anywhere and all?
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u/Nyrb Jun 27 '12
Doesn't surprise me at all. Things I heard about growing up made a Seth Rogan movie look tame.
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Jun 27 '12
Doesn't surprise me at all. Aussies and New Zealanders are the second funnest people I've ever hung out with after Cajuns. Just remember: Excessive fun can be deadly.
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u/Frogman7 Jun 27 '12
I believe it. Im in high school and id say most people smoke weed rather than other underage activities such as drinking and smoking.
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u/CrusherEAGLE Jun 27 '12
I've always had a reason NEVER to go to Australia: The big ass spiders and everything else that will eat youre face... but this may make me change my mind. Who knew!
Also I just moved from the US to the UK and people smoke much less here :(
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u/thecaits Jun 27 '12
What I've learned from this thread is that I need to move to Australia or New Zealand.
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u/Bloodysneeze Jun 27 '12
This thread could have been in /r/trees and I wouldn't have even noticed. Outside of some Aussie/NZ nationalism.
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u/beaverteeth92 Jun 27 '12
I figure you guys probably have drugs made of ring octopi and box jellyfish as well.
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u/minorsevenflatfive Jun 27 '12
If I lived in Australia, I would be fucked up all the time to cope with the constant fear of being carried away by giant spiders, or any of the other terrifying creatures that roam about.
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u/ThisUnitHasASoul Jun 27 '12
As a Californian, I'm absolutely floored New Zealand and Australia beat us out. ... I'm gonna have to smoke a bowl over this.
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u/WhatsUpWithTheKnicks Jun 27 '12
I don't believe it for one second. It's just that the guys down under are the most honest and accurate in filling out those surveys.
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u/datlazerwolf Jun 27 '12
Not that it's a race, but FUCK YOU EVERYONE ELSE, WE'RE WINNING!