Synthetic opioids and cocaine
In the report, which looks at data from 29 countries (the 27 EU members, Turkey and Norway), the agency also highlighted the threat posed by the emergence of new synthetic opioids, which feature particularly in the Baltic countries.
These drugs are highly potent and a small amount can pose elevated life-threatening poisoning risks. In particular, nitazene opioids have recently entered the European drug market and their availability is increasing.
Drug-induced deaths went up, from 7,100 in 2022 to 7,500 in 2023, mostly caused by a combination of opioids and other substances.
Cocaine is the second most commonly used illicit drug in Europe — after cannabis — and the most commonly consumed illicit stimulant drug, used by around 4.6 million European adults in the last year.
The EUDA is warning that the availability of cocaine is continuing to increase, in the form of both cocaine powder and crack cocaine, an increase which is “having a growing negative impact on public health in Europe.”
Cocaine residues in wastewater also increased in several cities, which “suggests that as cocaine has become increasingly available, so too has its geographical and social distribution,” it said.
EU countries also seized record quantities of cocaine for the seventh consecutive year, amounting to a 418 metric tons in 2023, compared to 323 metric tons in 2022. Nearly three-quarters of the total quantity taken was seized in Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands.
