Brussels, 31/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - There are more and more synthetic drugs produced on European soil and legitimate transport means, such as containers, aircraft, couriers and postal services, are being increasingly used for drug trafficking. This somewhat disheartening announcement was made on Thursday 31 January by the commissioner for home affairs, Cecilia Malmström, the director of the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), Wolfgang Götz, and the director of Europol, Rob Wainwright, on the occasion of the publication of a first joint report on the drug trafficking trends in Europe.
Although the report underlines a number of positive points, such as the considerable reduction in heroin consumption in the EU, it highlights other problematical elements, such as the increasingly complex itineraries used for trafficking, the increased use of new technologies, and the use of the internet for developing trafficking, in addition to the local and speedier production of synthetic drugs and cannabis close to consumers, especially in the Netherlands but also in Belgium, Lithuania and Poland. In 2012, more synthetic drugs were detected on European soil, increasing to 73 from 49 in 2011. Malmström took the view, during a press conference, that the situation is growing worse every year. She said this should make leaders reflect upon current policies and solutions to the problem.
The report also points to several developments - changes occurring in organised crime, in particular, which is becoming increasingly polymorphic and dynamic. Organised crime is, with diversification of activity and outlets, using legitimate means of carrying illegal substances - via the post, container ships, etc. On this last point, Malmström obviously defended free movement in the Schengen Area and said that the solution did not lie in strengthening borders, which does not work when criminals are to be caught, but in “combining insights”. She called on the states to step up cooperation. Wainwright also said that current Schengen rules already provided for very effective tools for intercepting suspect packages and that around 16,000 cases of this kind were treated each year in the EU. One area in Europe requires special vigilance -the north-west of the EU, between the United Kingdom and the north of France and the Netherlands -a true base from which groups considered to be the most powerful in the world operate, said Wainwright. Those groups do not restrict themselves to drugs, he said, as people smuggling is also a part of their activities. The groups present in that zone are, at any rate, a very serious threat, he said.
On the subject of consumption, it comes as no surprise that cannabis is perhaps the substance most resistant to prohibitions and repressive measures, with domestic consumption having considerably developed, which, as the report points out, makes it extremely difficult for the authorities to control and intercept. According to Commission and EMCDDA figures, some 2,500 tonnes of cannabis are consumed each year in the EU and three million people are reported to consume cannabis daily - on a market estimated at being worth between €18 and €30 billion. On the question of legalising the drug to counter trafficking, Commissioner Malmström tried to help matters along by saying that the discussion should first and foremost be dealt with by member states. Cannabis is consumed more than cocaine or heroin. As far as cocaine is concerned, the report notes that demand is still high but falling very slightly. Spain and Portugal are the main in-roads for the substance but new routes are emerging, mainly via the Balkans and the Black Sea region. Malmström said that heroin was the only tiny victory, the European market having in fact declined in the past 20 years with consumption now being reduced to a small group of ageing partakers.
Prospect of ban on amphetamine-like drug “4-MA”.
On Thursday 31 January, the European Commission proposed banning the amphetamine-like drug “4-MA” throughout the EU. It is produced synthetically and has physical effects similar to those of amphetamines. The Commission asked the EU member states to prevent the drug spreading freely across Europe by submitting it to control measures. The drug, 4-methylamphetamine - or 4MA - is already illegal in ten EU countries (Germany, Austria, Cyprus, Denmark,France, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Netherlands and the United Kingdom). During the period 2010-12 alone, the substance was associated with 21 deaths in four EU countries (Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK). The aim of the proposal is to ban the production and marketing of the substance, subjecting it to criminal sanctions throughout Europe. EU member state governments must now take a stance on adoption of such measures, by qualified majority vote in Council. The 4-MA can cause very harmful effects: hyperthermia, hypertension, anorexia, nausea, headache, insomnia, paranoia, anxiety and depression. (SP/LC/transl.jl)