MaltaMedia.com

The yearly report published today by the European monitoring centre on drugs and drug addictions (EMCDDA) shows that Europe has to face an increasingly sophisticated drug market and a rise increase in multi-consumption of various drugs and alcohol.

If cocaine and heroin are still the drugs most consumed, other drugs such as methamphetamines are more and more present in Eastern and Northern Europe. The fall in cannabis use, in particular by young people, gives some hope, although the number of intensive and regular users could reach 2.5% of young Europeans.

According to the report, Malta has one of the lowest rates of illicit drug use, but at the same time one of the highest rates for heroin which is classified as a dangerous drug. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and rug Addiction report indicates that Malta has 5.9 cases of heroin use per 1,000 people a year, the highest figure recorded among the countries surveyed.

Although heroin use is comparatively low in Europe, the drug is responsible for the majority of drug-related deaths, and is the principal drug in over half of all drug treatment requests. Use of other drugs, however, remains low.

The most popular illicit drug in Europe is cannabis. Cannabis abuse is the second lowest in Malta at only 3.5% compared with 22.1% among Europeans aged 15-64. Malta also records the third-lowest rate of amphetamine use (0.4%) and ecstasy (0.7%) and the second-lowest rate of cocaine use (0.4%). Despite Malta’s relatively low drug use, drug-related deaths in Malta are higher than average at 25 deaths per 1 million people due to the high rates of heroin use.

Commenting the release of the report, Jacques Barrot, vice-president of the European Commission in charge of Justice, Liberty and Security, declared: ”The European Commission calls on Member States to act in a united and coordinated manner to use more not only the figures and the reports of the EMCDDA, but also the tools that they themselves have put in place, like Europol and Eurojust, which are agencies specialised in fighting criminal activities at European level. It is time to acknowledge that fighting drug and organised crime at a national level only is definitely over. Globalisation of crime is a fact, but the European response often remains fragmented. The European Commission has been trying hard for over ten years to overcome these national barriers in Europe. Let’s hope that the new Lisbon Treaty will allow us to move up a gear in fighting drugs use and drug related crimes”.