Sydney, Jan 6 (IANS) Australians and New Zealanders are the biggest cannabis users in the world, said a report published in the medial journal The Lancet.

According to the report, the data showed that Australia and New Zealand have the highest rate of cannabis use in the world, Xinhua reported.

About 9.3 to 14.8 percent of people aged between 15 and 64 smoked the drug in the two countries over the past year compared with 1.2 to 2.5 percent of people in Asia, said the report’s co-author Wayne Hall from the University of Queensland’s Centre for Clinical Research.

Australia and New Zealand also share the highest rate of usage of other illicit drugs such as speed and crystal meth, with 2.0 to 2.8 percent of their populations having used them over the year.

“Cannabis was far and away the most widely used illicit drug globally, but heroin and other opiates cause the most harm, followed by amphetamine-type stimulants and cocaine,” the Lancet report said.

“Among the most common harms were drug dependence, overdose deaths, accidents, violence, HIV-AIDS and other blood-borne infections,” it added.