Life for sale?

The price of drugs in Europe is falling; the therapeutic services for women are still limited; and youngsters who frequent discos and night spots have ten times greater probability of making use of drugs that those who don’t: these are some of the alarm bells sounded by the European Watchdog on Drugs and Drug Addiction in its submission to the European Parliament in Brussels on 23 November. The Lisbon-based watchdog has published its 2006 annual Report on the trend of the drug phenomenon in Europe. The Report is published each year, in 23 languages, and includes data and analyses gathered in the 25 member states of the EU, plus Norway, Bulgaria and Turkey. This year it concentrates on the use of cannabis, cocaine and opiates, and also on amphetamines, ecstasy and psychotropic substances. The use of drugs, trends in consumption, the supply and the treatment of drugs, as also policies and legislation in this field, are all examined in the Report. THE “PRICE ALARM” arises from the fact that in the last five years the retail price of drugs has fallen in Europe “to levels never reached before”, observes the Report. Prices in Europe have dropped by 19% for cannabis resin, 12% for cannabis leaf, 22% for cocaine and 4% for brown heroin. The prices of amphetamines and ecstasy have also dropped by respectively 20% and 47%. For example, a dose of ecstasy cost 25 euros in the late 1990s, today it costs only 3. MARCEL REIMEN , president of the EU watchdog, has said that “the price is just one of the many factors that influence people in deciding whether or not to use drugs. For the time being there is no direct correlation between the general level of drug consumption and its retail price. Nonetheless, this lowering of prices in real terms in Europe must be considered alarming”. USE AND CONSUMPTION. According to the European agency, Afghanistan continues to flood the world market with opiates (89% of global production), with a supply that outstrips demand. But cannabis is the drug most produced and trafficked in the world and most impounded in the EU. In the EU, in Bulgaria, Romania and Norway, 20% of adults have made use of it at least one, while 1% (3 million) consumes it on a daily basis. In the same countries 3% (10 million) adults have made use of cocaine at least one and one and a half million now make regular use of it. The largest consumers of cocaine are in Spain, Great Britain and Italy. Europe is also the main centre of ecstasy production, though this has also spread to other part of the world in recent years. 8,000 DEATHS PER YEAR. Deaths from drugs in Europe continue to fluctuate around 7-8,000 per year. Some 400 people die each year from cocaine, the consumption of which is increasing considerably. The last two Reports of the agency noted a fall in sudden deaths correlated with drug consumption: from 6% in 2000-2001 to 13% in 2001-2002, then dropping back to 7% in 2002-2003, probably as a consequence of an improvement in access to therapeutic services and the reduction of damage, as well as a decline in the prevalence of life-threatening drug consumption. The drop in deaths of this type follows a 14% increase registered during the five-year period 1995-2000. In this year’s Report, however, the agency points out some “worrying signals” suggesting that the number of deaths linked to drug consumption – which has dropped since 2000 – could be beginning to rise again. According to the available data for the period 2003-2004, registered deaths increased by 3%. MORE ATTENTION TO WOMEN . The report also places emphasis on the situation of women with problems of dug abuse (20% of those who access the structures), which have a need for special interventions within the therapeutic services. “Specific gender-related services” are in fact needed that take into account situations of pregnancy and children, whereas today the services are especially focused on the needs of male consumers of opiates. The countries that offer “good practices”, taking account of parental care, include Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, France and Italy. YOUTH AND DISCOS . With regard to the greater risks run by adolescents who frequent discos and night spots, the Report points out that two thirds have made use of illegal substances at least once. 60% of the clientele interviewed in some discos in France, Italy and the UK declare they have tried cocaine at least once, while over half the clients in France, Czech Republic, Hungary, Holland and the UK have tried ecstasy. According to the Report, the youngsters in question are “socially integrated, who work, or study and have an income”. The long-term risks of the consumption of alcohol, “often ignored”, should not be underestimated, either.