There were up to 8,000 drug-related deaths in the EU and Norway in 2005, according to a report issued on Thursday, which urged policy-makers in the 27-nation bloc to invest in overdose prevention programmes.
After years of steady increase, the use of cannabis appears to be stabilising, according to a report on drug use in the 27 EU member states, Norway and Turkey, published on Thursday (November 22nd). Cocaine consumption, however, has hit record levels, it warned.
"Cocaine is now, after cannabis, the second most commonly used illicit drug in many EU member states and in the EU as a whole," the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) concluded in its annual study, based on 2005 data.
More than 12 million Europeans, or almost 4% of all adults, have used cocaine at least once, the 100-page paper noted. At least 4.5 million people used it last year, up from 3.5 million in 2005. Around 2 million used it in the last month alone -- more than double the figure for ecstasy, the third most common drug in the surveyed countries.
Increased cocaine use in the last year among people between the ages of 15 and 34 have been registered in all countries reporting recent survey data, the EMCDDA said, citing Britain and Spain as the two biggest consumers in the EU. The prevalence of long-term or regular cocaine users was the highest in these two countries, as well as in Italy. The popularity of the drug, which can still fetch up to 120 euros a gram in some EU nations, appears to have also grown in Denmark.
In 2005, more than 33,000 people sought cocaine-related treatment in Europe, up from nearly 13,000 in 1999, the EU drug agency said. Spain and the Netherlands had the most cases of reported treatment on the continent. Around 400 deaths related to cocaine use were registered in Europe in 2005.
The steep rise in cocaine consumption has coincided with an increase in both the quantities seized between 2000 and 2005, as well as the number of seizures and in Europe, the EMCDDA said.
"In 2005, there were an estimated 70,000 cocaine seizures amounting to a record 107 tonnes, up over 45% on quantities seized in 2004," the agency noted in a statement Thursday.
Cocaine is often used together with cannabis, which remains the most popular drug in the EU, according to the EMCDDA report. "Nearly a quarter of all adults in the EU -- around 70 million aged 15-64 -- have tried cannabis at some point in their lives, and around 7% -- 23 million -- have used it in the last year," the EU drug agency said.
On average 13% of young Europeans in the 15-34 age group have used cannabis in the last year, according to the report, naming Spain (20%), the Czech Republic (19.3%), France (16.7%), Italy (16.5%) and Britain (16.3%) as the countries with the highest rates.
An estimated 7,000 to 8,000 drug-related deaths occurred in the EU and Norway in 2005, the agency said, listing Greece, Austria, Portugal and Finland as the countries where the number of fatal overdoses has increased in recent years.
Over 7,000 lives lost a year is compelling indication that we are not getting it right when it comes to overdose prevention in Europe," EMCDDA Director Wolfgang Goetz said. "We have made real progress when it comes to HIV reduction among drug users. We now need to match this with equally effective actions to reduce drug-related deaths. This will require innovation, determination and vision, and ultimately the commitment of policy-makers to invest in overdose reduction programmes." (SETimes)
No comments:
Post a Comment