Details for European Drug Report 2013

Author: The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)

The major features of the European drug landscape have remained relatively stable in recent years. Drug use remains high by historical standards, but positive changes can be seen, with record levels of treatment provision accompanied by some signs of erosion in injecting, new heroin use, cocaine consumption and cannabis smoking. Any optimism, however, must be tempered by concerns that youth unemployment and service cuts could lead to the re-emergence of ‘old’ problems.

Moreover, a closer examination suggests that the drug situation may now be in a state of flux, with ‘new’ problems emerging that challenge current policy and practice models: new synthetic drugs and patterns of use are appearing, both on the illicit drug market and in the context of non-controlled substances.