Drug abuse 'drops in Europe'

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by Change | 6 Nov 2008

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A new study has found drug use in Europe appears to be in decline.

Illegal drug abuse in Europe is declining, a new study has revealed.

Research carried out by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and drug addiction (EMCDDA) indicates a steady or declining use among Europeans of amphetamine and ecstasy, while cannabis abuse is falling among young people in a number of countries.

The group's annual report for 2008 indicated that in the UK, the number of young adults claiming they use cannabis was found to have dropped from 19.6 per cent in 2000 to 15.6 per cent in the 2006-07 period.

Wolfgang Goetz, head of the EMCDDA, said: "Overall, for most forms of consumption, we are not seeing major increases and, in some areas, trends appear to be downwards."

The body went on to say there is also no evidence to suggest an epidemic growth in heroin addiction, although the organisation did caution that opium production in Afghanistan, the world's biggest supplier, totalled 7,700 tonnes this year, only slightly down from the 2007 record production of 8,200 tonnes.

Mr Goetz warned that "the glut of heroin now available on the world market" cannot be ignored.

Last month, Ireland's Drug Prevalence Survey: Cocaine Results was released by John Curran, minister of state responsible for the National Drugs Strategy, and indicated that number of people who have ever taken cocaine in the country increased to 5.3 per cent between 2002 and 2007.

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