Transcript 2006 Annual report on the state of the drugs problem in Europe

2006 Annual report on the state
of the drugs problem in Europe
Name, place, date and time
Latest on the drug problem across Europe
• Overview of the European drug
phenomenon in 29 countries
• Data and analyses: across
Europe and by country
• Latest trends and responses
• Selected issues:
•
•
•
European drug policies
gender differences
drugs in recreational settings
A multilingual information package
2006 Annual report:
In print and online in 23 languages
• http://annualreport.emcdda.europa.eu
• Additional online material in English:
•
•
•
•
Selected issues http://issues06.emcdda.europa.eu
Statistical bulletin http://stats06.emcdda.europa.eu
Country data profiles http://dataprofiles06.emcdda.europa.eu
Reitox national reports http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/?nnodeid=435
Headlines 2006
• Part I: Annual report
Headlines 2006
• Drugs in Europe cheaper than ever before
• Heroin — seizures and production ‘up’
• Continuing transmission of drug-related
infectious diseases
• Deaths — downward trend may be faltering
Headlines 2006 (continued)
• Cocaine — upward trend continues,
but some signs of stabilisation
• Cocaine — global production ‘up’,
importation routes diversifying
• Cocaine-related problems becoming
visible in some countries
Drugs in Europe cheaper than ever before
• Much variation in drug prices between countries
• Analysis based on only a limited set of countries
• Price of illicit drugs on Europe’s streets fell from
1999–2004 in many countries and for most drugs
• In Europe as a whole, correcting for inflation, prices
fell for cannabis resin (19%), herbal cannabis (12%),
cocaine (22%) heroin (45%), amphetamine (20%),
ecstasy (47%)
Drug prices (continued)
• Drug prices influenced by many factors: supply, level
of purity, type of product, volume purchased, etc.
• Analyses difficult: hidden nature of illicit market,
national variations in data quality and data collection
• No simple link found between price and trends in
other indicators (seizures, prevalence, purity, etc.)
• Need to develop better understanding of factors
influencing drug prices and how price impacts on
levels of drug consumption
Trends in retail prices of drugs in Europe 1999–2004
Heroin — seizures and production ‘up’
• Afghanistan, world leader in supply of illicit opium:
estimated 89% of global production (4,100 tonnes) in 2005
• Recent rises in production mean that global supply could
be exceeding global demand (UNODC)
• Asia (50%) and Europe (40%) still account for the greatest
volume of heroin seized worldwide
• Total quantities seized in Europe have been increasing
steadily since 1999
Heroin (continued)
• Record seizures in 2004: an estimated 46,000 European
seizures resulted in the recovery of 19 tonnes of heroin.
An increase of over 10% on the volume seized in 2003
• Cannot ignore dangers posed by surplus of illicit heroin
• Heroin no longer a fashionable drug, but a new
generation of young people could become vulnerable
• Heroin and injecting — major public health issues in
Europe for the foreseeable future
Continuing transmission of drug-related infectious diseases
• HIV — prevalence of infection among IDUs still low in most
European countries. Infection rates around, or below, 1% of
IDUs in around 10 countries, under 5% in most of Europe
• But new HIV infections attributed to drug injecting are still
reported and may be increasing in some areas and groups
• HCV — highly prevalent among IDUs in Europe: over 60%
in some samples of IDUs tested
• Syringe-exchange programmes now mainstream. Part of
broader approach (information, education, communication)
Deaths – downward trend may be faltering
• 7,000 to 8,000 drug-related deaths per year in Europe
• Latest data show they account for 3% of all deaths among
adults under 40
• Estimates are directly related to drug use, mainly opioid
use, but do not include deaths related to accidents,
violence or chronic diseases
• Typical overdose victim in Europe: male, mid-30s.
Across Europe, age of overdose victims is rising
Drug-related deaths (continued)
• Decline in acute drug-related deaths from 2000–2003
• This decline followed a 14% increase from 1995–2000
• In the available data for 2003–2004, the number of deaths
reported rose by 3%, suggesting the downward trend may
be faltering
• May not herald a long-term shift, but 13 out of 19
reporting countries recorded an increase of some degree
Ch. 7, Fig. 13 Long-term trend in acute
drug-related deaths, 1985–2004
Cocaine — upward trend continues,
but some signs of stabilisation
• Around 10 m Europeans (over 3% of adults 15–64 years)
have ever used cocaine
• Around 3.5 m are likely to have used it in the last year (1%)
• Around 1.5 m (0.5% of adults) report use in the last month
• Cocaine use historically high by European standards, but
still lower than in US where adult lifetime use is 14%
• Much variation: prevalence rates still low in many countries
• In the two countries most affected (Spain, UK), some signs
of a more stable situation after dramatic rises in late 90s
Ch. 5, Fig. 6 Last year prevalence of cocaine use among all adults
(aged 15-64) and young adults (aged 15-34 and 15-24)
Ch. 5, Fig. 7 Trends in last year prevalence of cocaine use
among young adults (aged 15-34)
Cocaine — global production ‘up’,
importation routes diversifying
•
Global cocaine production: around 687 tonnes in 2004 (UNODC)
•
Most cocaine seized in Europe enters from South America. With Latin
American, Caribbean and now increasingly African countries used as
transit routes
•
Around 74 tonnes of cocaine were seized in Europe in 2004 — a 20%
decrease on the 2003 figure
•
The estimated number of cocaine seizures increased by 36% in 2004
to 60,890
•
Iberian Peninsula a main gateway for cocaine entering Europe
accounting for over half the volume seized
Cocaine-related problems becoming visible
in some countries
• Problems becoming visible, but still relatively low
• Around 12% of all new treatment demands are related to
cocaine but much variation exists between countries
• In Spain and the Netherlands, where cocaine use is
relatively well-established, at least one in four requests for
drug treatment is now cocaine-related
• Need to develop a better understanding of what constitutes
appropriate treatment for cocaine and crack cocaine
problems
• Around 400 cocaine-related deaths reported
Drugs in Europe — Facts and figures
• 65 m adults have ever used cannabis (lifetime use) – 20%
of adults
• 10 m adults have ever used amphetamine – 3% of adults
• 8.5 m adults have ever used ecstasy – 2.6% of adults
• Estimated 1.7 m problem drug users (mainly heroin users)
in the EU today
• See ‘Drugs in Europe – Facts and figures’ summary for
more on individual drugs
Headlines 2006
• Part II: Selected issues
Headlines 2006
• Drug strategies broadening in scope
• Drug treatment services for women still limited in
Europe
• Different patterns of drug-related harm among
women
• Is the gender gap narrowing?
Headlines 2006 (continued)
• Surveys find club-goers over 10 times more likely
(than young people in general population) to have
tried stimulant drugs
• Club tourism and holiday drug use
• Long-term risks of alcohol often ignored
• Challenges for monitoring
Drug strategies broadening in scope
• Nearly all European countries now frame policy
initiatives within an overall national drugs
strategy/action plan
• Signs of a broadening of the scope of strategies to
encompass licit addictive substances (alcohol,
tobacco, medicines) as well as illicit drugs
• Over two-thirds of the countries surveyed now make
some link or reference to licit substances in their
policy documents
Drug treatment services for women still limited in Europe
• Growing awareness of the needs of women drug users, who
currently represent around 20% of those entering treatment
• Nearly all EU countries and Norway have at least one drug
treatment unit exclusively for women, or for women with
children, but access to this sort of service is often limited
• Most women are still treated through generic services
• Nearly one in four (23%) women accessing drug outpatient
treatment services is currently living with children
• Childcare concerns can discourage women from seeking
help. Women-friendly services have been shown to retain
women in care
Different patterns of drug-related harm among women
• Depending on the country, women represent between 7%
and 35% of drug-related deaths
• Differences between the genders in death trends
• Between 2000 and 2003, overdose deaths among men fell
by around 30%, whereas deaths among women fell by
around 15% (EU-15)
• Recent data from studies of IDUs in nine EU countries
showed HIV prevalence to be on average 13.6% among
male IDUs and 21.5% among females
• Are harm-reduction measures targeted at high-risk drug
users impacting less on women than on men?
Is the gender gap narrowing?
• Marked differences between the genders in almost all
aspects of the drug phenomenon
• Males still outnumber females among drug users in all
European countries, particularly when use is frequent,
intensive and problematic
• No strong evidence that the gap is narrowing between levels
of male and female drug use
• But data on drug use among school students (15–16 years)
reveal worrying trends. In some countries, girls appear to be
catching up with boys in lifetime use of drugs and alcohol
Surveys find club-goers over 10 times more likely
to have tried stimulant drugs
• In some cases around two thirds of club-goers
reported ever using stimulants
• Over 60% of club-goers surveyed in some settings in
France, Italy and the UK said they had ever tried
cocaine
• Over half the club-goers surveyed in the Czech
Republic, France, Hungary, the Netherlands and the
UK reported to have ever used ecstasy
Fig. 2 Prevalence of ever in lifetime use of ecstasy in surveys
carried out in club setting and among the general population
Recreational drug use (continued)
• Some surveys report lifetime use of ketamine ranging
from 7% (Czech Republic) to 21% (Hungary)…
• …and lifetime use of GHB ranging from 6% (UK) to 17%
(Netherlands)
• For hallucinogenic drugs, high figures were recorded in
club surveys in the Czech Republic (45% of those
surveyed had ever tried LSD), and France (55% had ever
tried ‘magic mushrooms’)
Club tourism and holiday drug use
• Research shows young people are more likely to try
drugs, or use them more often, when holidaying abroad
• In Spain, recreational drug use is highest near tourist
resorts
• One Swedish study found that, of young people who
had tried illegal drugs, 23% did so for the first time while
outside the country
• Interviews conducted with young holiday-makers
returning from Ibiza, as part of a UK study, found that
the frequency of all drug use was higher on holiday than
at home
Long-term risks of alcohol often ignored
• For the majority of young people across the EU, drug use is
still not an integral element of dance music settings
• For most, it is the music, social aspects and use of alcohol
that are the most central experiences in this environment
• Drinks manufacturers now tap into the lucrative dance
music market, targeting new drinks at younger age groups
• Concerns about the health risks of club-goers’ often
excessive drinking, sometimes combined with illegal drugs
• Club-goers generally aware of the health and legal risks
associated with drug use, but less aware about alcoholrelated problems and long-term risks
Challenges for monitoring
• The EMCDDA currently faces the challenge of
monitoring a much broader spectrum of substances than
a decade ago
• Polydrug use presents big challenges to drug
monitoring systems that traditionally have focused on
use of individual substances
• Developing new methodologies to understand this type
of drug use must be high on future agenda
• As well as monitoring today’s situation, the EMCDDA
keeps a watch out for new drugs and new trends that
may threaten public health