Drug use across Europe back to pre-COVID levels, says agency

The rapid bounce back of drug supply and use following COVID-19 disruption were among the issues highlighted by the EU drugs agency (EMCDDA) as it launched its European Drug Report for 2022.

Drug availability remains at high levels across the EU – in some cases, such as cocaine, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. Cannabis products are also becoming increasingly diverse with the production of synthetic drugs within Europe is on the rise.

Wastewater analysis, for example, reveals increases in the use of cocaine, crack, amphetamine and methamphetamine in some cities between 2020 and 2021. As COVID-19 restrictions have been relaxed across Europe, drug treatment and other services appear to have returned to ‘business as usual’.

“The take-home message from this report can be summarised in three words: everywhere, everything, everyone. Established drugs have never been so accessible and potent new substances continue to emerge,” EMCDDA Director Alexis Goosdeel said.

“Today, almost anything with psychoactive properties can be a drug, as the lines blur between licit and illicit substances. And everyone can be affected, whether directly or indirectly, as drug problems exacerbate most of the other important health and social challenges we face today.”

New psychoactive substances (NPS) continue to appear in Europe at the rate of one per week, posing a public health challenge. In 2021, 52 new drugs were reported for the first time through the EU Early Warning System, bringing the total number of NPS monitored by the EMCDDA to 880.

In 2021, 6 new synthetic opioids, 6 synthetic cathinones and 15 new synthetic cannabinoids were reported for the first time.

Record amounts of NPS were seized in Europe in 2020 totalling 6.9 tonnes (41,100 seizures). Of the material seized, 65% (3.3 tonnes) were synthetic cathinones, often sold as replacements to cocaine and MDMA.

Following controls on synthetic cathinones in China, most bulk quantities of these substances trafficked to Europe in 2020 originated in India, probably reflecting market adaptation to legal controls and supply disruptions.

At the end of 2021, the EMCDDA was monitoring 162 synthetic cathinones, making it the second largest category of NPS under observation after synthetic cannabinoids (224 monitored). Record synthetic cathinone trafficking to Europe and reports of harms (e.g. poisonings) have prompted new responses.

Cannabis – Europe’s most popular illicit drug

Developments in the cannabis area are creating new challenges for how countries respond to Europe’s most commonly consumed illicit drug. Cannabis products are becoming increasingly diverse, including extracts and edibles with high THC content, and CBD products with low THC content.

In 2020, the average THC content of cannabis resin was 21%, almost twice that of herbal cannabis (11%), reversing the trend seen in recent years, when herbal cannabis was typically of higher potency. This reflects market innovation as resin producers, usually from outside the EU, appear to have responded to competition from herbal cannabis produced inside Europe.

Signs of rising drug production

Over 350 illegal drug production laboratories were dismantled in 2020, including some large-scale cocaine, methamphetamine and cathinone production sites.

The latest analysis suggests the availability of cocaine in Europe remains high, bringing with it a range of health threats. A record 213 tonnes of cocaine were seized in the EU in 2020 (202 tonnes in 2019), while 23 laboratories were dismantled (15 in 2019).

The number of MDMA laboratories dismantled (29) remained relatively stable in 2020. In addition, 15 cathinone production sites were dismantled (5 in 2019) and 860 kg of chemical precursors for cathinone production were seized (438 in 2019). Although less common, illicit laboratories producing heroin, ketamine, GBL and DMT were also dismantled in the EU in 2020.

Drug problems in Europe can be influenced by developments occurring internationally. Despite the 2022 Taliban ban on the production, sale and trafficking of illicit drugs in Afghanistan, poppy cultivation appears to continue. The country’s current financial problems might make drug revenues a more important source of income, which could lead to an increase in heroin trafficking to Europe.