11 Most Commonly Used Illegal Drugs

9. Opium

Street names: Ah-pen-yen, Buddha, Ze, Chinese Tobacco, Pin gon

While there are no data on the number of opium users in the world, according to UNODP, 7.554 tonnes of opium was produced last year, which means that global opium production increased for 11 percent since 2013. This increase is due to rise in opium cultivation in Afghanistan, which was at the historical level in 2014. When opium gets into the body, it interacts with opioid receptors that affect how we experience pain and reward. Since opioid receptors are also part of brain stem, which controls blood pressure and breathing, use of opium can have deadly consequences.