european monitoring centre for drugs and drug addiction

Founded in 1993 and based in Lisbon, this European agency is responsible for providing reliable and comparable information on drugs to all the professionals working in the field of substance abuse, including counselors, specialists, researchers and policy-makers.

The main findings of the agency's 2007 report:

Cannabis: Between 1999 and 2005, requests for treatment for cannabis abuse have almost tripled. Nonetheless, consumption is now stabilizing, and popularity seems to be decreasing among youth, notably in countries seriously affected by the problem. However, the report points out the heavy (daily or almost daily use) use of cannabis by nearly 3 million people of the E.U. and the consequences of such heavy use on health.

Cocaine: Despite considerable variations between countries, the data confirm cocaine as the second most widely used illicit drug, after cannabis. About 4,5 million Europeans admit having used the drug during the previous year. Also noticeable, an increase of consumption in most countries, although limited in countries such as Spain where the prevalence is very high.

HIV: HIV transmission rates among intravenous drug users (IVDU) remain low in most countries, due to well known prevention modalities and other risk reduction measures. It is also due to a relative decline of IV use. However, 3500 new cases of seropositivity due to the sharing of needles were reported. According to the report, 100,000 to 200,000 IVDU?? are HIV positive. Today, the hepatitis C virus, or HCV, is the most commonly spread virus in the EU. Prevention measures utilized against HIV have had only a minor impact on HCV, and most countries report prevalence rates rising above 60% among IVDU, while 1 million people live with HVC.

Death: According to EMCDDA, overdoses are responsible for 7000 to 8000 deaths every year - they remain a major cause of avoidable mortality among young Europeans, and no decrease is noticeable yet.

The 2007 annual report is available in 23 languages at the following address: http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/events/2007/annualreport.cfm