The Drug Situation in Europe, March 2003

Drug abuse and associated issues have been high on the European Union's political agenda since the early 1990s. Illicit drug-taking has an effect on many aspects of society, contributing to poverty, unemployment, homelessness, social exclusion, delinquency and crime. In terms of the Union's policies, drug abuse and drug trafficking impact on social policy, health policy, justice and home affairs, and external relations. The European Commission's Directorate-General for Justice and Home Affairs is responsible for coordinating the activities of all the European Commission's relevant departments.

In the past Member States and the Commission have given insufficient priority to evaluation of anti-drugs activity. The EU's current drug strategy is based on regular assessment of the nature and magnitude of the drugs phenomenon and its consequences as well as knowledge acquired from research and lessons learned from past action. The regular assessment produced by the European Police Office (Europol) and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) are valuable tools for identifying emerging trends and improving knowledge at EU level. Now, evaluation is an integral part of the EU approach and EMCDDA provides guidelines for the evaluation of activities aimed at reducing demand and supply as well as models for assessment of policies.

At the midway point in the European Union's current Drugs Strategy (2000-2004), the situation is generally stable, which indicates that its strategy for monitoring and exchanging data and international cooperation has had some effect.

Background

The European Union's legal basis for tackling the drugs problem was extended by the Treaty on European Union (1992). Under the Treaty, the EU can act to:

• prevent drug dependency (under Article 152 on public health)
• combat illegal drug trafficking (under Title VI on police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters)
• participate in international cooperation (under Title V on the Common Foreign and Security Policy).

Drug trafficking was specifically mentioned by the Treaty of Amsterdam in the context of police and judicial co-operation intended to fight crime and ensure citizens' safety (Article 29). The Amsterdam Treaty also strengthened the operational powers of the European Police Office (Europol). The Europol Drugs Unit - EDU - started work in a limited number of areas in January 1994, although the Europol Convention itself was not signed until July 1995 and only entered into force in October 1998.

The first strategy to combat drugs covered the years 1995-1999; the current one is for 2000-2004.The European Council has played a significant role in promoting the Union's fight against drugs. At the 1998 Vienna European Council, the Heads of State and Government invited the institutions 'to develop further an integrated and balanced post-1999 drugs strategy taking into account the new possibilities offered by the Amsterdam Treaty'. In October 1999, the Tampere European Council agreed that drugs trafficking should be one of a limited number of sectors for which 'with regard to national criminal law, efforts to agree on common definitions, incriminations and sanctions should be focused'. The Tampere meeting also emphasised 'the importance of addressing the drugs problem in a comprehensive manner' and asked the Council to adopt the European Union Drugs Strategy (2000-2004). The main targets of the strategy were to:

1. to reduce significantly over five years the prevalence of illicit drug use, as well as new recruitment to it, particularly among young people under 18 years of age,
2. to reduce substantially over five years the incidence of drug-related health damage (HIV, hepatitis B and C, TBC, etc.) and the number of drug-related deaths,
3. to increase substantially the number of successfully treated addicts,
4. to reduce substantially over five years the availability of illicit drugs,
5. to reduce substantially over five years the number of drug related crimes,
6. to reduce substantially over five years money-laundering and illicit trafficking of precursors.

The Helsinki European Council (December 1999) called for rapid implementation and a report on initial results by the end of 2002 and the Feira European Council (June 2000) endorsed the EU Action Plan on Drugs 2000-2004 as 'a crucial instrument for transposing the EU Drugs Strategy 2000-2004 into concrete actions which provide an effective integrated and multidisciplinary response to the drug problem'. In November 2002, the Commission published its communication on the mid-term evaluation of the EU action plan on drugs (2000-2004).

Justice and Home Affairs DG

The Commission's Directorate-General for Justice and Home Affairs is responsible for coordinating the activities of the Commission departments involved in the different aspects of the fight against drugs, including prevention, education, research, health, training, control of precursor chemicals, money laundering, cooperation between police, customs and judicial authorities and international cooperation. It is responsible for coordinating the implementation by the Commission of the European Union Action Plan on Drugs for the period 2000-2004. It helps the Commission to put forward a consistent position in the different EU and international forums where drugs issues are addressed. It coordinates the Commission's relations with both the European Police Office (Europol) in matters of drug trafficking and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) which is responsible for collecting and disseminating information. It also represents the Commission in the Horizontal Drugs Group (HDG) of the Council. The HDG co-ordinates all drugs related issues and reports to the Committee of the Member States' Permanent Representatives to the European Union (Coreper) and the General Affairs Council.

European Police Office - Europol

The European Police Office (Europol) is the law enforcement organisation which aims to improve the effective cooperation of Member States in preventing and combating terrorism, unlawful drug trafficking and other serious forms of international organised crime. At the Luxembourg European Council meeting in June 1991 it was decided to establish such a Community-wide organisation to facilitate cooperation between the police forces of member states. The decision was confirmed at a meeting of justice and home affairs ministers (the Trevi Group) in The Hague on 3 December 1991 and embodied in the Maastricht Treaty (Article 29). The Treaty provides for "police cooperation for the purposes of preventing and combating terrorism, unlawful drug trafficking and other serious forms of international crime, including, if necessary, certain aspects of customs cooperation, in connection with the organisation of a Union-wide system for exchanging information within a European Police Office (Europol)".

In its first phase Europol was planned as a system for the rapid and confidential exchange of information. The first part of Europol to become operational was the Europol Drugs Unit in The Hague. The Europol Convention was not finally agreed until the Cannes meeting of the European Council in June 1995. It came into force in October 1998 and began operating on 1 July 1999.

Europol supports the law enforcement activities of the Member States mainly against

• illegal drug trafficking
• illicit immigration networks
• terrorism
• illicit vehicle trafficking
• trafficking in human beings
• forgery of money
• money laundering

by

• facilitating the exchange of information between Europol Liaison Officers (ELOs). ELOs are seconded to Europol by the member States as representatives of their national law enforcement agencies;
• providing operational analysis in support of Member States' operations;
• generating strategic reports and crime analyses on the basis of information supplied by Member States, generated by Europol or gathered from other sources;
• providing expertise and technical support for investigations and operations carried out within the EU.

It is particularly concerned with organised crime involving two or more Member States.

The Europol Convention required a computerised system to allow the input, access and analysis of data. The Europol Computer System (TECS) will have three principal components: an information system, an analysis system and an index system. The analysis and index systems are already in place. A provisional version of the information system became operational on 1 January 2002. More advanced versions will eventually connect all Member States and offer access in all the official languages of the EU.

In February 2003, Europol and the European Commission signed a cooperation agreement designed to facilitate the exchange of strategic information on international and organised crime which does not include personal data.

Europol's latest report (Annual Report 2001) has a section on its activities related to drugs, which gives the following information:

• Europol reports in 2001 include the Seventh Annual European Union Situation Report on Drug Production and Drug Trafficking, seven Drug Information Bulletins, reports on producers and traders of tabletting machines and punches and reports on the identification of equipment used in illicit laboratories and on distillation machines.
• Following a ban on opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and the events of 11 September, Europol also drafted a report on the situation of opium production in this country, the world's largest producer of this drug.
• In the framework of the Joint Action of new synthetic drugs, Europol, together with the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) drafted joint progress reports on GHB, Ketamine and PMMA.
• As a direct result of the European Union Action Plan on Drugs 2000-2004 a Collection Model for drug seizure statistics was drafted by Europol, in close co-operation with experts from Member States and the EMCDDA.
• A Model of Parameters for the assessment of the European Union Drugs Strategy, drafted by Europol in co-operation with Member States experts and the EMCDDA, has been adopted by the Horizontal Working Party on Drugs and will be implemented in 2002.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction - EMCDDA

A European Union agency based in Lisbon, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) was set in 1993 and became operational in 1995. Its main task is to supply member states and the European institutions with objective and comparable information on

• drugs and drug addiction throughout Europe.
• the demand for drugs and measures to reduce that demand
• national and Community strategies and policies
• international cooperation and the geopolitics of the supply of drugs
• control of the trade in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals
• the implication of the drug phenomenon for producer, consumer and transit countries

Since the drug phenomenon comprises many complex and interwoven aspects, the EMCDDA has the obligation to provide an overall picture of the drug problem to the Member States and the Community as they embark on measures to combat it.

The EMCDDA produces two annual statutory publications - the Annual report on the state of the drugs problem in the European Union and the General report of activities. It also publishes two periodicals - a bimonthly newsletter, Drugnet Europe , and a bimonthly series of policy briefings entitled Drugs in focus. The EMCDDA publication series include Scientific Monographs , Insights , Manuals and Risk-assessment reports. In addition to these series, the EMCDDA also produces individual titles on an ad hoc basis.

It has four main tasks:

• the collection and analysis of existing data
• the improvement of data comparison methods
• the dissemination of data
• cooperation with European and international bodies and organisations and with non-Community countries.

The EMCDDA coordinates a network of National focal points (NFPs) set up in the 15 EU Member States and Norway, and the European Commission. Together, these information collection and exchange points form Reitox, the European Information Network on Drugs and Drug Addiction. This human and computer network links the national information systems of the 15 Member States and Norway and their key partners to the EMCDDA. It acts as a practical instrument for the collection and exchange of data and information.

In July 2002, the Reitox coordination team produced a report entitled 'Quality of information in the drugs field: data quality and networking in the Reitox National Focal Points' , which lists some recommendations for improving the quality of the information provided by the focal points.

European Union Action Plan to Combat Drugs 2000-2004

The first action plan covered the years 1995-1999. The main aims of the current one, European Union Action Plan to Combat Drugs 2000-2004, are to:

• ensure that the issue of the fight against drugs is kept as a major priority for EU internal and external action
• continue the EU integrated and balanced approach of the fight against drugs, in which supply and demand reduction are seen as mutually reinforcing elements
• ensure collection, analysis and dissemination of objective, reliable and comparable data on the drugs phenomenon in the EU with the support of EMCDDA and Europol
• promote international co-operation, integration of drug control into EU development co-operation and to support the efforts of the United Nations and of UNDCP in particular to develop international co-operation
• emphasise that, while not bidding for new resources, the successful implementation of the strategy and actions mentioned in this Action Plan will necessitate appropriate resources.

Young people's attitudes to drugs

As required by the European Union's Action Plan on Drugs (2000-2004), a public opinion poll (Eurobarometer 57.2, 9 October 2002) on Attitudes and opinions of young people in the European Union on drugs was carried out in the 15 Member States of the European Union between 27 April and 10 June 2002, at the request of the European Commission. A representative sample of the national population aged 15 to 24 was asked to complete a questionnaire in each Member State. A total of 7687 people were questioned, or an average of roughly 450 people per Member State. The Commission will carry out a similar poll in 2004 to analyse changes in the situation in this area between now and the end of the Action Plan on Drugs.

A Commission report analysing the poll reached the following conclusions:

• Rates of exposure to and personal use of drugs are higher for cannabis than other drugs. Over a third of those questioned regularly smoke cigarettes, and a quarter regularly drink alcohol.
• Rates of use of cannabis and other drugs are higher among young men than women. The differences in behaviour are less marked in the case of cigarettes and alcohol.
• The age of leaving full-time education is a defining criterion: all types of drug use diminishes as the length of time spent in education increases.
• Rates of use of all types of drug, particularly drugs other than cannabis, are higher in large towns than rural areas.
• Curiosity, followed by peer pressure and thrill seeking are the most common reasons for trying drugs.
• Dependence is cited as the main reason why people find it difficult to stop using drugs, followed by lack of willpower and the "beneficial" effects of drugs.
• Dependence, problems with the law and mental and physical health problems are seen as the three most likely consequences of drug use.
• Heroin is viewed by young people as very dangerous. Cannabis is seen as the least dangerous, apart from cigarettes and alcohol.
• Perception of the risk posed by ecstasy varies considerably from one Member State to another, whereas opinions on heroin are more homogeneous.
• Young people are most likely to consult a specialised drugs centre as a possible source of information.
• Tougher measures against drug dealers and traffickers and against drug producers are regarded as particularly important by young people. One in five favours tougher measures against drug users.

More details can be seen in Commission Press Release IP/02/1532, 22 October 2002.

Current situation

The EMCDDA's 2002 Annual Report on the state of the drugs problem in the European Union and Norway, published 3 October 2002, shows key trends in Europe's drugs problem. It describes the drug situation and also national responses to drug use. Based on surveys and reports from the national focal points, it gives the estimated numbers of those who have ever tried drugs and also actual use in the last twelve months. Recent improvements in the Member States appear to show that the drugs policy is having some effect. A news release gives some of the key points from the annual report:

Drug use in the general population

• Cannabis continues to be the most widely used illegal drug in Europe. Those who have ever used cannabis range from 10% of adults in Finland to 25-30% in Denmark and the UK. Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Ireland and the Netherlands all report around 20%. In contrast, the figure for the United States is 34%. Most EU countries report cannabis use in the last 12 months at 5-10%. Among young adults, however, it is up to 18%. In a few countries, such as Ireland, the Netherlands, Finland and Norway, cannabis use seems to be levelling off or even falling.

• Amphetamines have been tried by 1-6% of the population of the EU, but 11% in the UK. Figures for cocaine and ecstasy are 0.5-4.5%; for heroin generally less than 1%, although may reach 2-3% for young men in some countries. During the last year, use of amphetamines, cocaine or ecstasy was generally less than 1% of adults.

• Consumption of synthetic drugs remains a major concern. Although users represent less than 3% of the population, there is worrying concentration of use among young people in nightlife and dance settings

Problem drug use

• Estimates of problem drug use vary from 2 - 10 cases per 1,000 population. The highest, at 6 - 8 per 1,000, are Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal and the UK. The lowest are in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands, with about 3 per 1,000.

Treatment demand

• An EU-wide rise in the overall number of people treated for drug problems was reported. Numbers seeking treatment for heroin addiction appear stable or falling. Cocaine consumption is reported as an increasing EU problem. Those seeking treatment have a very high unemployment rate - up to 55% even where the general rate is under 5%.

Drug-related infectious diseases

• HIV prevalence among injecting drug users varies from 1% in the UK to 34% in Spain, but the overall situation has not changed in recent years. AIDS has dropped in most countries since 1996. Portugal remains the EU country with the highest yearly incidence of AIDS among injecting drug users.

Drug-related deaths

• Each year, 7,000 - 8,000 drug-related deaths are reported by EU countries. In recent years the number of such deaths has stabilised or decreased, but some EU countries (Germany, Luxembourg and Austria) still report new increases after previous falls. Most overdose victims are young men.

Drug markets and availability

• Cannabis is the most-seized drug in every Member State except Portugal, where heroin predominates. Since 1996, Spain has been seizing more than half of the EU total.
• In 2000, almost 9 tonnes of heroin were seized, of which a third was in the UK.
• After rising steadily since the mid-1980s in the EU, cocaine seizure showed a marked fall in 2000.
• Seizures of amphetamines and ecstasy were up, reinforcing EU concerns about synthetic drug use.
• The price of illicit drugs is generally stable or falling throughout the EU, although some rises have been reported for brown heroin.
• The EMCDDA has repeatedly warned of the expanding market in synthetic drugs.

Drug policies and strategies

• All national drug strategies now emphasise effective response to drugs. To priorities are schools and the judicial system
• Judicial authorities throughout the EU are using a range of methods at different stages to divert offending drug users to treatment. There is an increasing effort to document and evaluate alternative responses to the problem and a trend to widen the distinction between drug users and drug suppliers. While a number of countries have chosen to reduce or remove penalties for personal use of cannabis, it is the most common drug involved in arrests - up to 37% in Sweden and 85% in France.

Georges Estievenart, the Executive Director of EMCDDA, concludes:

"The EU action plan on drugs has contributed to promoting awareness of the need for coordinating activities in Member States. The trend established over the past few years to translate drug policy frameworks into an action plan, drug strategy or policy document has continued, although a gap between the written strategy and its implementation still remains"

Mid-term evaluation

Member States were sent a questionnaire covering the points of the EU Action Plan on which they were required to take action. Their replies are set out thematically, following the order set out in the Action Plan, in Implementation of EU-Action Plan on Drugs 2000-2004. - Progress Review for the Member States (2 September 2002). This was an important tool for the Commission's mid-term evaluation, when taken in conjunction with the EMCDDA's 2002 Annual Report on the state of the drugs problem in the European Union and Norway, various Europol reports and the Eurobarometer survey Attitudes and opinions of young people in the European Union on drugs.

On 4 November 2002 the Commission published its Communication on the mid-term evaluation of the EU action plan on drugs (2000-2004). A final assessment will be made in two years' time. At that time the Commission will plan further measures on drugs for 2005 and beyond. The mid-term evaluation notes that considerable progress has been made in implementing the Action Plan, but much work still remains to be done. Priorities need to be better defined and more precise deadlines are needed for these priorities. It analyses what has been done at both national and European Union level.

At national level

• Most Member States have adopted a national plan and/or strategy on drugs.
• The availability and quality of data on the drug situation has improved.
• Work is in progress in some countries to establish effective monitoring and assessment of action taken.
• Member States have given greater priority to prevention and treatment.
• In the prevention of drug-related crime an important role in all Member States is played by the police.
• Cooperation between the national law enforcement authorities has been intensified in order to fight international drug trafficking more effectively.
• Various initiatives have been implemented to combine forensic and law enforcement data in order to tackle the production and trafficking of synthetic drugs.
• With regard to money laundering, national coordination mechanisms and new structures have been put in place.

At European Union level

In the period 2000-2002, the Council has adopted 28 measures in the drugs field covering a wide range of areas linked to the drug problem, including:

• The programme of Community action in the field of public health
• Strengthening of Community legislation on chemical precursors
• Control measures for the new drug PMMA
• Various initiatives aimed at combining forensic and enforcement information with a view to tackling the production and trafficking of synthetic drugs
• Tightening of Community legislation on money laundering
• Incorporation of drug prevention programmes in school curricula

More legislative measures have been proposed.

There is still, however, a lot to be done. The efforts undertaken by the European Union to combat drugs have to continue to centre on heroin and cocaine, while cannabis trafficking also needs attention. In 2003, the Commission will propose a new measure to combat trafficking in synthetic drugs. The evaluation of policies and activities carried out at both national and European Union level has to be developed and more research-based information is required. More cooperation is needed with candidate countries in order to strengthen their capacity to apply existing Union policy on drugs and establish contacts and cooperation with EMCDDA and Europol. International cooperation with producing and transit countries could be improved, particularly with the countries on the two main trafficking routes to the EU:

1. The heroin route from Afghanistan via central Asia, Iran, the Caucasus, Turkey, Eastern Europe and the Balkans
2. The cocaine route from Latin America via the Caribbean

The Commission will present its final evaluation of the Action Plan on Drugs by the end of 2004, at which point it will be putting forward proposals for the development of a European Union drugs policy in 2005 and beyond. Input from concerned organisations will be included in a conference planned for the first half of 2004.

Further information within European Sources Online

European Sources Online: In Focus
	Action on drug trafficking, May 2001
European Sources Online: Topic Guides
	The European Union and Public Health
European Sources Online: European Voice
	02.05.02:	MEPs approve measures to fight traffickers
	01.08.02:	One-fifth of young drug-users keep on taking
	26.09.02:	Commission takes tough stance against illicit drug production
	10.10.02:	Heroin use on rise in accession countries, warns drugs agency
	17.10.02:	Ministers fail to reach drugs accord
European Sources Online: Financial Times
	18.02.02:	Afghanistan opium crop threatens Europe
Further information can be seen in these external links: (long-term access cannot be guaranteed)
European Union
Council of the European Union
	Homepage
	Implementation plan on actions to be taken in regard to the supply of synthetic drugs
European Commission: Justice and Home Affairs DG
	Homepage
	Drugs - a global, integrated and balanced approach
	Drugs coordination
	Action plan
	Synthetic drugs
	Worldwide cooperation
	Crime and drugs
	Research
	Information
	Frequently asked questions - drugs
European Commission: Health and Consumer Protection DG
	Homepage
	Public health
	Drug prevention
European Commission. SCADPlus
	Union Policy: Combating drugs
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction - EMCDDA
	Homepage
	About the EMCDDA
	Frequently asked questions
	Policy and law
	EU action plan on drugs (2000-2004)
	Situation of drug use in the EU
	Publications
	Annual report on the state of the drugs problem in the European Union
	Annual report 2002
	Annual report 2001
	Annual report 2000
	Responses to drug use in the EU
	Themes
	Partners
	Reitox network
	Links
Exchange on Drug Demand Reduction Action - EDDRA
	Homepage
European Police Office - EUROPOL
	Homepage
	Factsheet
	Europol Convention
	Publications
	Annual report 2001
	Annual report 2000
	Annual report 1999
	Annual report 1998
	Press releases
	Links
European Commission: DG Press and Communication: RAPID: Press Releases
	23.05.01:	Commission proposes measures to combat large-scale drug trafficking
	30.11.01:	Fight against doping in sport: the EU takes the lead
	10.12.01:	Commission proposes control measures to fight against PMMA, a new synthetic drug
	18.03.02:	Together against doping: the EU sports ministers meet sports federations in Brussels on March 20
	05.04.02:	Crackdown on drug cultivation: the European Commission supports new measures announced by Afghan Interim Administration
	18.09.02:	Commission to improve drug precursors system
	22.10.02:	Survey of young people's attitudes to drugs (Eurobarometer 57.2)
	29.11.02:	EU Action Plan on Drugs (2000-2004): mid-term evaluation
More Press Releases, and related material, from the European Commission and other EU Institutions on the drugs situation can be found by a search on RAPID. Insert DRUGS in the keyword field and change the date field to the period required.
International organisations
United Nations
	Homepage
	United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention
International Narcotics Control Board - INCB (Vienna)
	Homepage
	United Nations Conventions
World Health Organisation - WHO
	Substance dependence
Council of Europe
	Homepage
	Pompidou Group
Other organisations
European Cities on Drug Policy - ECDP
	Homepage
European Addiction Training Institute - EATI
	Homepage
Qualitative European Drug Research - QED
	Homepage
A-Clinic Foundation (Helsinki)
	Homepage
Bremer Institut für Drogenforschung - BISDRO (Bremen)
	Homepage
Centralförbundet för Alkohol och Narkotikaupplysning (Stockholm)
	Homepage
Centre for Drug Misuse Research (Glasgow)
	Homepage
Centrum voor Drugsonderzoek - CEDRO (Amsterdam)
	Homepage
ERIT (Federation of European Professional Associations Working in the Field of Drug Abuse) (Boulogne)
	Homepage
Fundación de Ayuda Contra la Drogadicción - FAD (Madrid)
	Homepage
Institut für Suchtforshung - ISF (Zürich)
	Homepage
Itaca - European Association of Professionals Working with Drug Dependencies (Rome)
	Homepage
IVO - Instituut voor Onderzoek naar Leefwijzen & Verslaving (Addiction Research Institute) (Amsterdam)
	Homepage
Narkotikakommissionen (Stockholm)
	Homepage
Nordiska nämnden for alcohol-och drogforskning - NAD (Nordic Council for Alcohol and Drug Research) (Helsinki)
	Homepage
Riksförbundet För Hjälp ät narkotika-och Lakemedesberoende (National Association for Aid to Drug Useres) (Stockholm)
	Homepage
News services
BBC News Online
	09.06.02:	Drugs: a global business
	08.11.02:	Europe seeks to fight "drugs tourism"
	23.11.02:	"Millions" have tried ecstasy

Further and subsequent information on the subject of this In Focus can be found in an 'Advanced Search' in European Sources Online by inserting 'drugs' in the keyword field.

Freda Carroll
Researcher
Compiled: 6 March 2003

Background and reporting on the week's main stories in the European Union and the wider Europe.