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Galvin, Brian (2021) European drug report, 2021. Drugnet Ireland, Issue 78, Summer 2021, pp. 12-13.

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The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) published the European drug report 2021: trends and developments1 on 9 June 2021. The purpose of this report is to provide an overview and summary of the European drug situation up to the end of 2020. The analysis offered in the report must be regarded as preliminary due to the impact of Covid-19. The Health Research Board (HRB) provides the Irish data and research for the EMCDDA report.

Latest data

  • Around 83 million or 28.9% of adults (aged 15–64 years) in the European Union (EU) are estimated to have used illicit drugs at least once in their lifetime. 
  • The most commonly tried drug is cannabis (47.6 million males and 30.9 million females). 
  • Much lower estimates are reported for the lifetime use of cocaine (9.6 million males and 4.3 million females), MDMA (6.8 million males and 3.5 million females), and amphetamines (5.9 million males and 2.7 million females). 
  • Levels of lifetime use of cannabis differ considerably between countries, ranging from around 4% of adults in Malta to 45% in France. 
  • Last-year drug use provides a measure of recent drug use and is largely concentrated among young adults. An estimated 17.4 million young adults (aged 15–34 years) used drugs in the last year (16.9%), with about twice as many males (21.6%) as females (12.1%) reporting doing so. 
  • The prevalence of high-risk opioid use among adults (aged 15–64 years) is estimated at 0.35% of the EU population, equivalent to 1 million high-risk opioid users in 2019. 
  • There were 510,000 clients in opioid substitution treatment in 2019 in the EU. Opioid users accounted for 26% of drug treatment requests. 
  • It is estimated that at least 5,141 overdose deaths, involving illicit drugs, occurred in the EU in 2019, representing an increase of 3% compared with 2018. 
  • Although injecting drug use has been declining in Europe for the past decade, it remains a major cause of drug-related harms. 
  • Opioids were involved in 76% of the fatal overdoses reported in the EU for 2019. 

Covid-19

All routine indicators suggest that at the beginning of 2020 there was widespread availability of a diverse range of drugs of increasingly high purity or potency on the European drug market. Drug production and trafficking appears to have adapted rapidly to pandemic-related restrictions, and there is little evidence of any major disruptions in supply. Drug traffickers have adapted to travel restrictions and border closures with more reliance on smuggling via intermodal containers and commercial supply chains and less reliance on the use of human couriers. This is illustrated by the large seizures of cocaine and other drugs observed during 2020. Multi-tonne seizures of cocaine were reported in European ports in 2020 and early 2021, including 16 tonnes in Hamburg in Germany and 7.2 tonnes in Antwerp in Belgium. Although street-based retail drug markets were disrupted during the initial lockdowns, and some localised shortages were experienced, drug sellers and buyers appear to have adapted by increasing their use of encrypted messaging services, social media applications, online sources, and mail and home delivery services.

Information in 2021 suggests that reductions in drug consumption during the initial lockdowns are being reversed as social distancing measures reduce. Online surveys indicate less consumer interest in drugs usually associated with recreational events, such as MDMA, and greater interest in drugs linked with home use, such as LSD and 2C-B (2,5-dimethoxy-4-bromophenethylamine), and dissociative drugs such as ketamine.

Technology has also created opportunities for responding to drug problems. We can see this in the way that many drug services in Europe have also demonstrated resilience by adopting telemedicine approaches. While some services for those with drug problems have been disrupted due to the pandemic, the care sector has also adapted rather quickly, where services were able to introduce innovative working practices to mitigate the impact of the current crisis on their clients.

Diversity in supply and use of drugs

The patterns of use are becoming more complex, with people who use drugs being presented with a greater selection of substances. This is creating various health harms because of the use of more novel substances or from the interaction of multiple substances. Some countries are seeing an increase in crack cocaine availability and use. There are reports of the availability of smaller doses or cheaper packages of heroin, crack, and benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines, either diverted from therapeutic use or not licenced for medical use in Europe, are appearing on the illicit drug market. Increased use of benzodiazepines was seen among high-risk drug users, prisoners, and some groups of recreational drug users, potentially reflecting the high availability and low cost of these substances and pandemic-related mental health issues.

New forms of cannabis and new ways of consuming them have emerged. There is increasing availability of high-potency products. Reports indicate that cannabis cultivation and synthetic drug production within the EU continued at pre-pandemic levels during 2020. The picture is complicated by highly potent synthetic cannabinoids, which have often been used to adulterate natural cannabis products.

Drug use prevalence and trends

Cannabis is the most commonly used drug – its prevalence is about five times that of other substances. While the use of heroin and other opioids remains relatively rare, these continue to be the drugs most commonly associated with the more harmful forms of use, including injecting. The extent of stimulant use and the types that are most common vary across countries, yet evidence is growing of a potential increase in stimulant injecting. 

1   European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) (2021) European drug report 2021: trends and developments. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/34349/

Item Type
Article
Publication Type
Irish-related, International
Drug Type
Substances (not alcohol/tobacco)
Intervention Type
General / Comprehensive
Issue Title
Issue 78, Summer 2021
Date
August 2021
Page Range
pp. 12-13
Publisher
Health Research Board
Volume
Issue 78, Summer 2021
EndNote

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