Europe is facing one of the most serious drug crises in decades. Cocaine consumption in the European Union increased sixfold between 2013 and 2023, while methadone consumption tripled. This was announced by European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner at a press briefing in Brussels. According to the TASS agency, the commissioner said that this is no longer just a statistical problem, but a crisis with serious implications for security, public health and the stability of society as a whole.
Brunner pointed out that the amount of drugs seized is also increasing dramatically. Cocaine seizures have increased sixfold, methamphetamine more than threefold, and ecstasy more than double. „These are not just numbers. They are human lives, blood, violence, corruption and enormous social damage.“ he said. The European Commission is therefore launching a new pan-European anti-drug strategy aimed at tackling both production and trafficking, as well as demand itself.
The strategy envisages tighter controls on chemicals used in drug production, a more vigorous fight against illegal synthetic drug laboratories, and enhanced police cooperation across Member States and with countries from which drugs are trafficked to Europe. Brunner also said that new education and prevention programmes for young people would be developed. According to him, the European Commission does not want to discuss the legalisation of drugs.
According to data from the European Drug Agency, Europe is one of the main target markets for cocaine from Latin America. Record volumes of seizures are recorded mainly in ports in Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain. In addition, wastewater analyses in hundreds of European cities have long confirmed the growing consumption of stimulants, especially cocaine, amphetamine and MDMA. According to experts, drugs are more accessible than ever before and are penetrating environments that were previously relatively protected.
The increase in availability is directly reflected in health statistics. Acute poisoning cases are on the rise, and combinations of several drugs at once are becoming more common, dramatically increasing the risk of overdose. In addition, cocaine is increasingly found in combination with synthetic opioids. The European Commission now wants to use drones, satellite surveillance and artificial intelligence to help uncover smuggling routes before the drugs reach the streets.
The impact of the growing drug epidemic extends beyond health issues. Higher crime rates, violence, pressure on health and social systems, and the infiltration of organised crime into the legal economy pose a serious security risk to EU countries. According to experts, this is no longer a marginal phenomenon, but a problem affecting society as a whole.
The situation in the Czech Republic is specific in this regard. While cocaine dominates in Western Europe, pervitin remains the main problem drug in Czechia. According to the National Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction, pervitin continues to be produced in small home laboratories and is the main cause of injecting drug use and drug-related crime.
Cocaine has a lower share in the Czech Republic than in Western Europe, but its use has been growing slightly in recent years. Estimates suggest that several per cent of the adult population has experience with cocaine. The number of people with problematic drug use in Czechia has long been around 45,000 to 47,000. At the same time, there has been an increase in fatal overdoses, especially when multiple substances, including opioids, are combined. The Czech healthcare system is thus facing similar trends to the rest of Europe, only with a different drug as the main risk factor.
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