From Stockholm to Barcelona, there has been an increase in the use of amphetamine, methamphetamine, cocaine and MDMA in the EU in 2019, according to a report published on Thursday 12 March by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and the Sewage Analysis CORe group Europe (SCORE).
The SCORE group analysed daily wastewater samples from 68 cities in 23 European countries over a one-week period in March 2019 to study the drug use behaviour of their residents. In all, the sewage of approximately 49 million people was tested for traces of four drugs: amphetamine, methamphetamine, cocaine and MDMA. Cannabis and heroin were not included in the study.
Compared to previous years, the study shows an overall increase in 2019 in the detection of these four drugs. Of the 45 cities with wastewater data for 2018 and 2019, 27 reported an increase in cocaine use. Residues found in wastewater were highest in cities in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom, according to the study.
Methamphetamine, which used to be found mainly in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, now appears to be present in Cyprus, eastern Germany, Spain and several northern European countries such as Denmark, Lithuania and Finland, according to the report.
Of the 42 cities with data for MDMA, 23 reported an increase in residues, while for amphetamine, of the 41 cities tested, 21 reported an increase.
The study also highlights the differences between cities in the same country, which it explains in part by the different social and demographic characteristics of the cities concerned, such as nightlife or the age distribution of the population.
See the report: https://bit.ly/33fiin1 (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)