AS MANY as one in 25 people worldwide uses cannabis despite the negative health effects associated with the drug, according to a new study published in the Lancet.

The report, which uses estimates supplied by the UN office on drugs and crime, reveals that cannabis continues to be the drug most widely cultivated and used around the world.

The study indicates that 166 million adults aged between 16 and 64 admitted to using the drug at least once a week during 2006, equivalent to 3.9 per cent of the global population.

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