UK needs to snort out an issue
The UK has become the European country with the highest level of cocaine use, an official study has found.
According to the annual report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drugs Addictions (EMCDDA), 9.4% of the people surveyed, aged between 15 and 64, said they had taken cocaine at least once in their life. The figure rises to 14.9% (one person in seven) for the group aged 15-34.
Countries following close behind in terms of cocaine consumption are Spain – with 8.3% between ages 15 and 64, and 11.8% in the group aged 15-34 – Italy and Denmark, with respectively 7% and 9.5% (over the two group ages).
The republic of Ireland is fourth, with 5.3% and 8.2% in the two age ranges.
The report underlined how in both Spain and the UK drug consumption has “increased dramatically in the late 1990s, before moving to a more stable, upward, trend”.
Other findings recorded that consumption among people aged 15-34 has almost doubled since 2003.
According to the European institution, the report proves that “drug problems have no age limits” any more – if they ever had one.
Drug usage is not an issue related to young people but, especially in recent years and in eastern European countries, the consumption of illegal substances has spread a lot, without following an age pattern.
EMCDDA director Wolfgang Gotz said in an official release: “It is commonly assumed that people in their mid-30s grow out of drug use, but data from drug treatment centres in Europe show that this is not always the case. Increasingly services are called on to meet the needs of ageing clients who bear the health effects of long-term use combined with those of getting older.
“This clearly presents a growing issue for both specialised drug treatment services and mainstream health providers alike.”
Cannabis remains the most-used illicit drug in Europe, closely followed by cocaine.
For the full EMCDDA report on cocaine use, you can go to www.emcdda.europa.eu/attachements.cfm/att_120104_EN_EMCDDA_AR2010_EN.pdf.
(Read the full article on The Fresh Outlook)
Nov 2010
According to the annual report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drugs Addictions (EMCDDA), 9.4% of the people surveyed, aged between 15 and 64, said they had taken cocaine at least once in their life. The figure rises to 14.9% (one person in seven) for the group aged 15-34.
Countries following close behind in terms of cocaine consumption are Spain – with 8.3% between ages 15 and 64, and 11.8% in the group aged 15-34 – Italy and Denmark, with respectively 7% and 9.5% (over the two group ages).
The republic of Ireland is fourth, with 5.3% and 8.2% in the two age ranges.
The report underlined how in both Spain and the UK drug consumption has “increased dramatically in the late 1990s, before moving to a more stable, upward, trend”.
Other findings recorded that consumption among people aged 15-34 has almost doubled since 2003.
According to the European institution, the report proves that “drug problems have no age limits” any more – if they ever had one.
Drug usage is not an issue related to young people but, especially in recent years and in eastern European countries, the consumption of illegal substances has spread a lot, without following an age pattern.
EMCDDA director Wolfgang Gotz said in an official release: “It is commonly assumed that people in their mid-30s grow out of drug use, but data from drug treatment centres in Europe show that this is not always the case. Increasingly services are called on to meet the needs of ageing clients who bear the health effects of long-term use combined with those of getting older.
“This clearly presents a growing issue for both specialised drug treatment services and mainstream health providers alike.”
Cannabis remains the most-used illicit drug in Europe, closely followed by cocaine.
For the full EMCDDA report on cocaine use, you can go to www.emcdda.europa.eu/attachements.cfm/att_120104_EN_EMCDDA_AR2010_EN.pdf.
(Read the full article on The Fresh Outlook)
Nov 2010