The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) published their European drug report 2013: trends and developments on 28th May.1 This year the centre’s annual overview of the European drug situation is presented in a new information package designed to be ‘more timely, interactive and interlinked’, and which replaces the former annual report. The shorter, graphic-rich report summarises the latest trends across the 27 EU member states, and Norway, Croatia and Turkey. Accompanying the 2013 report is a series of online interactive Perspectives on drugs (PODs) providing deeper insights into important issues.

 

The EMCDDA reports that the numbers initiating heroin use are falling, there is less injecting and the use of cocaine and cannabis is declining in some countries. While these are positive developments, the emergence of new synthetic drugs and new patterns of use presents new challenges. Today’s drug market is less reliant on the long-distance movement of plant-based substances into Europe. Globalisation and new technologies have driven significant changes in the manufacturing, supply and distribution of drugs. 

 

Commenting on the report, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström says: ‘I am heartened by the fact that, thanks to robust drug policies and record levels of treatment, use of heroin, cocaine and cannabis appears to be waning in some countries and drug-related HIV continues to decline.’ Despite these advances, the fact that drug use in Europe remains high is a cause of continuing concern. Commissioner Malmström continues: ‘Emerging challenges add to my concerns – we are faced with an ever more complex stimulant market and a relentless supply of new drugs which are increasingly diverse. The fact that over 70 new drugs have been detected in the last year is proof in itself that drug policies need to stay on target.’

 

The EMCDDA estimates that at least 1.2 million Europeans received treatment for illicit drug use in 2011. Opioid users constitute the largest group undergoing treatment, followed by cannabis and cocaine users. Substitution treatment remains the ‘first choice’ for treating opioid dependence. Some 730,000 Europeans now receive substitution treatment for opioid dependence – up from 650,000 in 2008 – representing around half of the estimated 1.4 million problem opioid users in Europe today.  Although the number of heroin users entering treatment for the first time continues to fall, the long-term nature of opioid use means that many of those in treatment are likely to require services for many years to come.

 

1. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (2013) European drug report 2013: trends and developments. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.  www.drugsandalcohol.ie/19915