Heroin use on rise in accession countries, warns drugs agency

Date: 10/10/02

By Martin Banks

CANDIDATE countries face a 'major challenge' in tackling narcotics abuse, according to a new report from the EU drugs monitoring agency.

It warns there is a 'clear gap' in most accession states between availability of drug services and demand from those needing treatment, with prevention schemes having to do some 'catching up' to match those in member states.

Until the mid-1990s, central and eastern Europe was seen mostly as a transit area for shipment of drugs to the EU, but illegal drug use in these countries has risen sharply.

Heroin use, in particular, is on the rise, according to the report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction in Lisbon.

George Estievenart, the agency's director, said: 'Although heroin seems to be somewhat out of fashion in EU member states, it has found new markets in the candidate countries.'

The agency is concerned that drug treatment is not being taken seriously enough in the entrant states - a view echoed by Robert Evans, deputy chairman of the European Parliament's citizens' freedoms and rights committee, who helped launch the report.

He said that 'porous' borders in many candidate countries made them particularly vulnerable to drug smuggling.

Among the report's other conclusions are that:

• Cannabis continues to be the most popular drug in the Union;
• Consumption of synthetic drugs is a major concern;
• Drug use is more common among men than women, though the gap is narrower among the young;
• The rate of drug-related infectious diseases, such as HIV, is rising in some member states, and;
• In the past year, almost nine tonnes of heroin were seized - a third in the UK.

Statistics show that Britain is the member state with the biggest drug problem in the EU. Cocaine use is rising faster than anywhere else and the country has the highest number of amphetamine users, with more than 11 of the adult population and 22 of young people admitting to trying 'speed' at least once in their lives.

Britain also topped the ecstasy league with 12 of young people saying they had taken a pill at least once, compared to only 3.7 of young Germans.

However, Italy, Luxembourg and Portugal admitted a similar level of 'problem users', such as those who inject drugs (between six and eight for every 1,000 people), with Austria, Germany and the Netherlands recording the lowest (three per 1,000), according to the report.

Mike Trace, chairman of the agency's board, said candidate countries faced a major challenge in tackling abuse although, conversely, rates of drug-related diseases in these countries remained comparatively low.

Candidate countries face a 'major challenge' in tackling narcotics abuse, according to a new report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/work-programmes http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/work-programmes

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