EU warns drug problem is ‘Everywhere, Everything, Everyone’

FIGHTING drug problems is getting more complex as innovation leads to the development of different substances and new trafficking routes, a European Union agency said in a report on Tuesday.

“The take-home message that stands out from our analysis of drug trends in 2022 can be summarised as ‘Everywhere, Everything, Everyone,’” Alexis Goosdeel, the director of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction said in the report. “We face a situation where we can observe the impact of drug problems almost everywhere. We are now facing a more complex drug situation, characterised by high availability and greater diversity in patterns of drug consumption.”

Innovation has led to a rising number of different drugs, as well as new routes and concealment methods, the report said.

Drug availability and use remain at “high levels” across the EU, the report said. About 83.4 million people, or 29 per cent of adults age 15 to 64, in the EU are estimated to have used an illicit drug at some point. 

The EU agency said there was a “rapid bounce back in drug supply and use” following the lifting of measures on social distancing and border controls that were put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In particular, cocaine use has returned to pre-pandemic levels, the report said, noting signs of a rise in crack cocaine use as well. BLOOMBERG