According to the Global Burden of Disease Study, illicit drugs are estimated to have killed nearly 7.5 lakh people worldwide in 2017 alone.
The estimated number of lives lost in India was 22,000. According to some estimates, the global drug trafficking trade is worth a staggering $650 billion. From traditional plant-based drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, and heroin to synthetic drugs such as tramadol, consumption of narcotic substances in India has increased manifold in recent years.
In terms of users, India's illicit drug markets are mostly dominated by cannabis and opioids.
Cannabis in the form of bhang is legal in India. Its other forms ganja (marijuana) and charas (hashish) are illegal.Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of cannabis users, followed by Punjab, Sikkim, Chhattisgarh and Delhi, according to the AIIMS report.

Current and future challenges in the supply reduction arm lie in the early detection and scheduling of the new psychoactive substances. Moreover, it has noted with caution the rapid proliferation of internet-based pharmacies and bitcoin-based transactions for the illicit drug use in India. Though the government has an over-encompassing blueprint, committed workforce and several dedicated programmes and policies at its disposal, there is a need to improve the current programmes (to address the unmet needs), to have a coordinated effort between Ministries, incurring uniformity at the policy level, to make scientifically informed choices and to strengthen the supply reduction chains