Lhosmot-Marquet, Marie and Champeyrache, Clotilde and Donnadieu, Hélène and Jouanjus, Emilie and Khazaal, Yasser and Roux, Perrine and Varignon, Bénédicte and Fleury, Laurent and Coyaud, Etienne (2026) Cocaine use in Europe: the need for cross-sectoral collaboration between security, justice, health, and social systems. The Lancet. Public health, 11, (1), e61-e68. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2468-2667(25)00283-x.
External website: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/...
Cocaine use has increased in Europe over the past decade, raising concerns regarding its associated harms. This increase is driven by the contemporary transformation of the international cocaine supply chain, which has led to increased availability, purity, and use rates. Cocaine use affects both health and society, challenging European countries' health and social care capabilities and models. Addressing these challenges requires multisectoral collaboration to understand the issues better and develop appropriate public health strategies. Integrating security, social, and health policies is thus necessary, and their coordinated actions should lead to improving health and living conditions of people who use cocaine. Given the recent evolutions of the market, there is an awareness of the need to improve security measures to combat drug trafficking in Europe, but health and social aspects have not been sufficiently considered. In this Viewpoint, we review key facts about cocaine use within the European context and propose pragmatic and prioritised measures, reconciling health, social, justice, and security aspects.
G Health and disease > Public health
MM-MO Crime and law > Organised crime
MM-MO Crime and law > Crime > Substance related crime > Crime associated with substance production and distribution
MM-MO Crime and law > Substance related offence > Drug offence > Illegal transportation of drugs (smuggling / trafficking)
MM-MO Crime and law > Justice system
VA Geographic area > Europe
Repository Staff Only: item control page