Heroin and cocaine use worry EU drugs agency

The EU drugs agency has voiced concern about the “glut” of heroin available in Europe in a major new report published on Thursday.

The report says stimulant drugs, such as amphetamines, ecstasy and cocaine, are the second most commonly consumed drug type in Europe today, after cannabis.

But the report, ‘The state of the drugs problem in Europe’, reveals a “very mixed picture” within this group in terms of prevalence, trends and market developments.

It says some 12 million Europeans (aged 15-64 years) have tried cocaine in their lifetime, compared with around 11 million for amphetamines and 9.5 million for ecstasy.

While the latest European data confirms reports of a stabilisation or even declining trend in the use of amphetamines and ecstasy, they point to a continued rise in cocaine use, albeit in a limited number of countries.

The annual report of the European monitoring centre for drugs and drug addiction (EMCDDA) also found “signs of change” in Europe ’s heroin problem, which, says the agency, means that countries need to be vigilant and prepared to respond.

The Lisbon-based EMCDDA estimates that there are between 1.3 and 1.7 million problem opioid users in the EU and Norway, with heroin responsible for Europe’s largest drug-related health and social costs.

The report questions previous EMCDDA assessments of a slowly improving heroin situation and points to a “stable but no longer diminishing problem”.

Record opium production in Afghanistan in 2007 has also heightened the agency’s worries over a potential knock-on effect on Europe’s heroin problem.

Speaking at a news conference in parliament on Thursday, EMCDDA director Wolfgang Gotz said, “We cannot ignore the threat posed by the glut of heroin now available on the world market. Vigilance is clearly required.

“But to ensure that Europe is ready to respond rapidly, there is a critical need to improve the sensitivity of our information systems to changes in the availability and use of these most damaging substances.”

His comments were echoed by Belgian ALDE MEP Gérard Deprez, chairman of the civil liberties committee, which is responsible for monitoring drug action programmes in member states. “We have to take these warnings very seriously because this is a growing problem, with between 7000 and 8000 people dying from drug-related incidents every year.”

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