Warsaw, 27/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - The Polish Presidency of the EU Council has made it a priority to combat synthetic drugs (see also EUROPE 10483), as it recalled on Wednesday 26 October, during a conference in Warsaw. “This new threat has been identified in Poland but, thanks to effective action by public authorities, it has been contained”, said Andrzej Matejuk, who heads the Polish police force. The European Council of justice and home affairs ministers is to adopt a European pact to counter synthetic drugs and, Matejuk said, “in this respect, it is very important to promote closer cooperation between the EU and the countries of eastern Europe”.
The Commission considers that, over the past two years, a new synthetic substance enters into circulation every two weeks. In 2010, the EU identified a record number of 41 substances, when just one year earlier there were 24 articles on the list. Such psychoactive substances have similar effects to ecstasy or cocaine. They are increasingly available on the internet and are spreading rapidly in many member states that are finding it difficult to prevent the drugs being sold.
A recent Eurobarometer survey examined the consumption of synthetic drug consumption in the different European states: - 16% in Ireland, 9% in Poland and Latvia, 8% in the United Kingdom, and 7% in Luxembourg. Results of the survey also show that, in the 27 EU member states, most 15-24 year olds are calling for this kind of substance to be banned. (VW/transl.jl)