Cocaine use here among the highest in Europe
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Irish youths are among the worst in Europe when it comes to cocaine use
Friday November 06 2009
Irish youths are among the worst in Europe when it comes to cocaine use, a new report has revealed.
The European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) showed the country has the fourth-highest use of cocaine among 15- to 24-year-olds in Europe.
Ireland is also among the countries with the highest prevalence of drug-related deaths, coming fifth in Europe with 57 drug-induced deaths per million of population.
The report found that European efforts to curb cocaine and heroin had little impact in the past year.
However, it revealed that Ireland imposes the longest prison sentences for drugs offences in the EU.
Heroin use in Europe is "stable but no longer diminishing," the EMCDDA says.
Combinations of drugs pose increasing problems, as do new synthetic drugs, many of them marketed on the internet.
"There is little to suggest any improvement regarding cocaine and heroin use in Europe, the two substances that remain at the heart of Europe's drugs problem," the EMCDDA says.
But cannabis use is declining.
When it comes to cocaine use, Denmark had the highest rate at 5.6pc, followed by Spain at 5.4pc and Britain at 5pc. Romania had the lowest level of cocaine use at 0.1pc.
The report found that Ireland is the third-largest seller of "designer drugs" over the internet.
hnews@herald.ie
- Caroline Crawford
