New drugs were detected in the European Union last year at the rate of around one per week, according to the EMCDDA– Europol 2011 annual reporton new psychoactive substances, released on 26 April. A total of 49 new psychoactive substances were officially notified for the first time in 2011 via the EU early-warning system. This represents the largest number of substances ever reported in a single year, up from 41 substances reported in 2010 and 24 in 2009. In 2011, the list of substances registered was dominated by two groups: synthetic cannabinoids (23 substances) and synthetic cathinones (8 substances), [which together] make up around two-thirds of the new drugs reported last year. All of the new compounds reported in 2011 were synthetic. The number of online shops offering at least one psychoactive substance or product rose from 314 in January 2011 to 690 in January 2012.

 

Cited from article by Alessandro Pirona and Dagmar Hedrich in Drugnet Europe, No. 78, April–June 2012

 

In most EU countries today, social-care providers, office-based doctors and general health service professionals now complement work traditionally undertaken by caregivers from specialist drug treatment services. … Against this backdrop, the EMCDDA is adapting its treatment data collection approach and developing a new strategy for monitoring national treatment provision.

In a new project involving experts from eight countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Austria, Poland, Portugal and Switzerland), EMCDDA-commissioned consultants are testing the use of a generic map of national treatment systems. Using a standardised format for all countries, this will bring together data from different sources on multiple treatment providers (availability) and treated individuals (uptake). It is also flexible enough to accommodate specific components of national systems. The initial results of this pilot exercise will be available in the second half of 2012.

 

Cited from article in Drugnet Europe, No. 78, April–June 2012

 

Drug-related research in Europe: recent developments and future perspectives is the title of the next edition in the EMCDDA’s series of Thematic papers. Research can help answer policy questions by investigating the most appropriate interventions to help reduce drug problems. Today scientific findings and up-to-date evidence are important bases for sound policymaking at local, national and EU level.  The EMCDDA has been monitoring drug-related research since 2007. This paper, which draws on a variety of sources (e.g. Reitox national reports, EC-funded research projects), updates the EMCDDA’s 2008 Selected issue on National drug-related research in Europe. The new publication reports on recent developments and current challenges in the drug-related research field and suggests future opportunities.

 

 

Cited from article in Drugnet Europe, No. 79, July – September 2012

‘The market share of cannabis herb is increasing across Europe, at the expense of cannabis resin’. This is according to the first comprehensive analysis of Cannabis production and markets in Europe, released in the EMCDDA Insights series. The report describes a cannabis market in a ‘continual state of evolution’ and how Europe, a major cannabis consumer, is now an important producer of this, its most popular illicit drug. Also documented is the wide variety of products on sale and how the rise in herbal cannabis cultivation inside Europe’s borders is increasingly associated with collateral damage, such as violence and criminality.

 

The analysis shows that, in two-thirds of Europe (30 EMCDDA countries), cannabis consumption is now dominated by herbal products (and by resin in the remaining third). Almost all (29) of the 30 reporting countries stated some cultivation of herbal cannabis. Considerable challenges posed by indoor cultivation techniques have led to a number of intelligence-led approaches to market interdiction involving new technologies and information sharing. Yet, most law enforcement attention is still focused on cannabis use rather than supply.

 

Cited from article by Alessandro Pirona in Drugnet Europe, No. 79, July–September 2012

 

Although the quality and provision of drug treatment has improved significantly in the EU over the last two decades, most activities in this field remain predominately geared to managing or ending substance use. This has led to concerns that support aimed at (re)integrating socially excluded drug users is perhaps being neglected by current drug policies. …

 

Neglecting drug users’ social needs can undermine the gains made in treatment. In this light, the EMCDDA will release a study this autumn reviewing recent developments and best practice in the social (re)integration of problem drug users in treatment. The report will also examine evidence on the effectiveness of a large number of interventions aimed at boosting drug users’ employability and employment chances. On the same theme, a new module is under development in the EMCDDA’s Best practice portal dedicated to social (re)integration interventions. Due for release this autumn, these products are designed to help policymakers and practitioners further develop coherent and inclusive strategies to promote the social (re)integration of this target population.

  

All three available at www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/thematic-papers