The drug problem in Europe is "endemic but stable", according to a new study.
The report, from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), found that between 7,000 and 8,000 acute drug-related deaths occurred every year in Europe.
"And, worryingly, increases are seen in some countries where trends were previously stable or decreasing," Mr Georges Estievenart, director of the centre, said yesterday. The centre was set up by the EU in 1993 to compile information on drug issues in member-states.
Mr Estievenart said that while the number of clients in treatment had increased, treatment facilities were still "clearly not sufficient, especially in prisons". Up to 69 per cent of inmates in European prisons can have a history of drug use.
While the EMCDDA does not recommend one form of therapy over another, Mr Estievenart said there was a growing consensus on the value of providing sterile needles and on the importance of methadone treatment.
He called for a stepping up of political effort in tackling the drug problem throughout Europe.
Mr Mike Trace, chairman of the EMCDDA, said it was disappointing that the availability of drugs had not been reduced, despite increased efforts to target this area.
Ireland was somewhere in the middle when it came to drug problems, according to Mr Julian Vincente, epidemiologist with the EMCDDA. He pointed to a major increase in drug-related deaths in Ireland in the 1990s due to the heroin problem, but said there were signs that this had reduced in the past year or so.
The profile of the Irish drug addict has not changed in recent years. A typical drug-user is likely to be a young Dublin male from a socially and economically disadvantaged background.
The report found that cannabis continues to be the most commonly used illegal drug in Europe, with an average of 5 to 15 per cent of young adults saying they had used it recently. Cannabis is also the most seized drug in every EU state except Portugal, where heroin predominates. Since 1996, Spain has been seizing more than half the EU total of seized cannabis.
Cannabis resin comes mainly from Morocco, via Spain and the Netherlands, while heroin is mainly trafficked through Eastern Europe.
For the first time, the EMCDDA report looks at the drug situation in those Eastern and Central European countries seeking EU membership. It showed "a drastically different picture" to the situation five years ago. Then, those Eastern and Central European countries were only associated with drug transit. "Today, they have become a clear target for drugs consumption," the report states.
Risky behaviour related to drug consumption is prevalent, particularly in Baltic states. Latvia, and particularly Estonia, saw "an alarmingly rapid increase" in the spread of HIV infection among injecting drug-users since the mid-1990s. Earlier this year, a major outbreak of HIV infection was recorded in a Lithuanian prison.
The number of people with a drug problem in Europe varies from two to 10 cases per 1,000 population (aged 15-64). The Netherlands, with its liberal stance on cannabis, shows the lowest rate of problem drug use in the EU, at 2.6 cases per 1,000.
Ireland falls into the upper percentile, with 5.7 cases per 1,000. However, that figure dates back to 1996, with a more up-to-date figure expected later this year. This lack of new research is a major concern for people working in this area, according to Dr Hamish Sinclair, head of the drugs misuse research division of the Health Research Board. Without up-to-date research, it was hard to compare Ireland's drug problem with that of other European states, he said.
