By Martin Banks - 21st November 2007
Deaths from drug overdoses in Europe are now about twice as high as HIV infections, a parliament committee was told.
The civil liberties committee heard that that drug-related deaths, and rising cocaine use, are the two main concerns facing the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.
The Lisbon-based EU agency will publish its annual report on Thursday but its director, Wolfgang Gotz, gave an outline of its contents when he addressed the committee on Wednesday.
He said there were “reasons for some optimism”, particularly declining use of cannabis among people aged between 16 and 21 and the fact that drug use overall had stabilised over the past 12 months.
“Hopefully, drug use will become less fashionable and this will herald the start of a general downward trend over the coming years,” he said.
However, there were still concerns about increasing consumption of cocaine, he said.
“This remains a major issue and one which needs tackling head on.”
In 2008, the commission will start its task of assessing the impact of the current EU action plan on drugs.
“In Europe, the drugs situation still represents a serious challenge for health and social policy and for law enforcement,” Gotz told the meeting.
"However, there are grounds for optimism."
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