SYDNEY — Australians are popping more ecstasy pills than any other country in the world, according to the United Nations World Drug Report. 
 
 The global 2014 report shows the dramatic rise of all types of recreational drug users in Australia. The country is rated first for ecstasy use, third for methamphetamine consumption, fourth for cocaine snorting and seventh for cannabis smoking when compared with the rest of the world. 
 
 According to the report, ecstasy use is on the decline from previous years, but Australia is now seeing a dramatic “increase in the consumption of cannabis, cocaine, hallucinogens, and solvents and inhalants”. 
 
 Cocaine use hasn’t increased as rapidly as other illicit drugs, likely due to the high street price of the party stimulant - close to $AUD300 ($280). 
 
 Drug experts say economical and social conditions in Australia are contributing to the shocking rise of illicit drug use. 
 
 Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation president Dr Alex Wodak told News Limited the rise can be attributed to a new generation of cashed-up social users and also a growing underclass. 
 
 “There is certainly greater demand for drugs and that is likely because of economic and social conditions. 
 
 “People on one hand have more money to spend and on the other there are more people who are at risk — and those that are at risk are getting worse because of high unemployment, poor job prospects, lack of optimism,’’ Dr Wodak told the Daily Telegraph. 
 
 The report also reveals Australians are ranked second only to the US in the use of prescription painkillers such as codeine and morphine. 
 
 In the five main countries surveyed, the report claims illicit drug use among men is higher but the illegal use of pharmaceutical drugs “is nearly equivalent, if not higher among women”. 
 
 “Nearly all drug use surveys indicate that men are more likely than women to use drugs such as opiates and cannabis,” the report said. “However the gender gap shrinks when data on the misuse of pharmaceuticals are considered.” ||||| An ascetic sadhu smoking in Kathmandu, Nepal Flickr/MikeBehnken Yesterday we put together maps of illegal drug use from the U.N.'s World Drug Report 2012, and now we are going through the data to get a better idea of which countries use which drugs most. 
 
 Here is a "Top 12" list of countries with the highest annual prevalence of marijuana use (as a percentage of the population aged 15 to 64): 
 
 1) Palau: 24.2% 
 
 2) Northern Mariana Islands: 22.2% 
 
 3) Guam: 18.4% 
 
 4) Italy; New Zealand*: 14.6% 
 
 6) Nigeria: 14.3% 
 
 7) USA: 14.1% 
 
 8) Canada: 12.7% 
 
 9) Saint Kitts and Nevis: 11.7% 
 
 10) Bermuda: 10.9% 
 
 11) Spain: 10.6% 
 
 12) Australia**: 10.3% 
 
 *aged 16 to 64 
 
 ** aged 14 + 
 
 SEE ALSO: The Top 11 Cocaine-Using Countries In The World >
– It appears that our friends from Down Under are in fact up higher than North Americans—a new study shows that Australians and New Zealanders are the world's top pot smokers, reports the Los Angeles Times. The Lancet found that 15% of Aussies and Kiwis ages 15-64 used some form of marijuana in 2009, as opposed to 11% of North Americans, and just 2.5% of people in Asia. Australians and New Zealanders also are the top users of amphetamines. “Just look at the way we take alcohol as an integral part of everyday life. I think a lot of young people see cannabis in the same way that we see alcohol: as no big deal, as a drug just to use to have a good time,” said one of the study's researchers. The study also found that up to 203 million people around the world use marijuana annually, compared to up to 56 million who use amphetamines and 21 million who use cocaine or opiates such as heroin.