Press Release: Illicit drugs: EU report unveils new worrying trends in smuggling and consumption

Europe is entering an important new era in the supply and demand for illicit drugs — a development which is challenging current policies and responses. This is according to the first joint EU drug markets report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and Europol released 31 January 2013 in Brussels. The two EU agencies have joined forces to provide the first strategic analysis of the European illicit drug market in its entirety.

In the report, they describe a market which is increasingly dynamic, innovative and quick to react to challenges and one which requires an equally dynamic, innovative and agile response across Europe. The report unveils the ‘changing face of organised crime in Europe’: while, historically, the EU drug market has focused on specific drugs trafficked by specialised operators along well-defined routes, the contemporary market is more ‘fluid’, with new routes and multi-substance consignments becoming more common.

• Primary Source

European Commission: Memo/13/51: EU drug markets report: key findings http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-51_en.htm

European Commission: SPEECH/13/87: Unveiling the changing face of the EU drug market http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-13-87_en.htm

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