Drugs Overdose Kills One European Per Hour

In its annual report, presented at the European Parliament, the EMCDDA confirmed that cannabis remains the most widely-used drug in Europe with some 71 million people having tried it at least once in their lives. However, there have been more worrying signs suggesting that the consumption of cocaine is on the rise.

Seven Member States noted an increase in the use of cocaine- France, Ireland, Spain, the UK, Italy, Denmark and Portugal. Overall, 3.5 million young Europeans have used cocaine in the last year, and 1.5 million in the last month alone.

Whereas cocaine is prevalent on the illicit drugs market in the west and south of Europe, amphetamines and ecstasy remain the prevailing stimulants in most northern, central and eastern EU countries, particularly in those countries that joined the bloc in 2004 and 2007.

Director of EMCDDA Wolfgang Gotz underlined the harm caused by drug consumption and said that drug overdose remained one of the leading causes of death amongst young people in Europe today. According to the report, it is estimated that there are between 7,000 and 8,000 drug-induced deaths in Europe each year.

The majority of these deaths are related to heroin use, but some 450 deaths can be attributed directly to cocaine.

"A couple of years ago, we were quite optimistic that the levels of drug-related deaths were falling and they were falling quite regularly, at least until 2003. But this seems to be no longer the case," said Wolfgang Gotz.

Indeed it has reached the point where one European dies every hour from an overdoes, and young people are particularly vulnerable. A "major public campaign" is to be launched next year with the aim of raising awareness of the risks related to drug use.

For more information

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction

EMCDDA Annual Report 2008