How to reduce consumption?

Spreading of drug circulation is always more “complex” and “dynamic”. It includes various issues, from production to “sale”, from impact on some developing countries economies to organized and “borderless” crime, to social and health impacts where the consumption “continuous to be always very high”. Report 2009 published last week by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (a large and well documented paper) cannot be quickly shelved. Data are worrisome (despite EMCDDA does not induce to easy alarmism) and the analysis should trigger, both nationally and at Community level, always more convincing answers for those who don’t give in to circulation all types of drugs among the young and older citizens of the Old Continent.Alarming figures. 74 million Europeans of 15-64 years old used cannabis, that is one fourth of adult citizens: more than 22 million used it this year. Cocaine consumers are 13 million; “7.5 million are young people age 15 to 34” and 3 million have taken it in the last year. Report 2009 published by the European Monitoring Centre, highlights “cocaine consumption in the EU is still concentrated in western countries, and is lower in other parts of Europe”. In 2007 (latest homogeneous data available) the number of “cocaine seizures in Europe reached 92 thousand compared to 84 thousand in 2006”, although the amount retrieved is less than 77 tons, compared to 121 of the previous year. Just in 2007 the number of deaths directly linked to cocaine usage were 500: How many are the one missing from the official figures? Social and Healthcare problems. The European Monitoring Centre’s 120 pages long Report is full of numbers, tables and specific national cases. As far as heroin is concerned, EMCDDA highlights a situation of “stability” rather than reduction. The EU agency experts state: “After a drop in problems connected to heroine in the mid 90s in the new millennium, indicators of “opiate trends (new treatment requests, deaths, seizures) still show disquieting developments”. “Even if there is no proof of return to widespread epidemic in the use of heroin of the 80s and 90s, emerging social and healthcare problems connected to the use of this drug are still high”: There is more: ecstasy is consumed by 10 million Europeans, two million and a half are addicts; amphetamine have been “tried” at least once by 12 million citizens. Combining drugs and alcohol. Needles (luckily dropping), joints, tablets (increase): drugs are still a thorn in Europe’s side. “The age of national drug war is over. Globalization of crime is a fact but often Europe’s response is fragmented”. Jacques Barrot, Commissioner of Security, extracts this information from the European Monitoring report of Lisbon. Barrott stresses the urgency of “a united and coordinated response”. Data published by the EMCDDA states that even if “cocaine and heroine continue to play a leading role” in Western and Central Europe, “other drugs such as methamphetamine are always more popular in Eastern and Northern Europe . The Centre highlighted furthermore the increase in number of “multi-consumers” (people who use a combination of drugs) and alcohol abusers. The Mix of alternative substances is jeopardizing the health of millions of people, harmful to themselves and others, it feeds a ruthless illegal market, made up of violence, exploitation, and money laundry.Concrete Action needed. “One of findings of this year’s report is that assessing Europe’s drug problem needs a simultaneous understanding of national features, of sub-regional specificities and, increasingly, of common European, or even global, trends”. Marcel Reimen, Chairman, EMCDDA Management Board , Wolfgang Gotz, Director, commenting the 2009 Report stressed on the globalization phenomenon. “For the future- they said- we need to better describe this complex relationship, as this will help us not only to understand those factors that can promote or inhibit drug problems, but will also guide in the development of appropriate interventions”. Reimen and Gotz also pointed out that the European Union and the UN “have renewed their drug policy documents almost in parallel ” a year ago- EU’s new action plan (2009-2012) and that of the United Nations “reflect the international commitment to reduce drug use and the harms it can cause.”