Clear differences can be seen in the cumulative (lifetime) incidence of drug use across countries (Table 2). Lifetime alcohol use was reported by the vast majority of respondents in the Americas, Europe, Japan, and New Zealand, while considerably smaller proportions of respondents ever used alcohol in the Middle East, Africa, and China. Lifetime tobacco use was most common in the US (74%), Lebanon (67%), Mexico (60%), and in some European countries (Netherlands, 58%; Ukraine, 60%), with by far the lowest proportions in the African countries (South Africa, 32%; Nigeria, 17%). The proportions of respondents who ever used cannabis were highest in the US (42%) and New Zealand (42%), whereas lifetime cannabis use was virtually nonexistent in the Asian countries (Table 2). The US was an outlier in lifetime cocaine use, with 16% of respondents reporting that they had tried cocaine at least once compared to 4.0%–4.3% in Colombia, Mexico, Spain, and New Zealand, and extremely low proportions in countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
