Between “unprecedented” cocaine availability, counterfeit painkillers that contain deadly synthetic opioids, and evasive trafficking networks, Europe’s drug problems are more complex than ever.
That’s according to the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA), which says illegal drugs are taking their toll across the entire bloc due to addiction, increases in gang violence, and burdened health systems.
“Today we face a fast-changing situation everywhere in Europe,” Alexis Goosdeel, the agency’s executive director, told Euronews.
An estimated 7,500 people died from drug overdoses in 2023, up from about 7,100 the year before, the analysis found.
Most overdose deaths involved opioids, but the risks are changing as more people turn to synthetic drugs and use multiple substances.
EU officials called for more proactive efforts to prevent and treat addiction, rather than simply monitoring drug use, as well as increased police efforts to dismantle criminal networks that traffic drugs.
Here’s what the latest data shows on illegal drug trends across the EU, Norway, and Turkey – and what health authorities are most worried about going forward.
Heroin and other opioids
Europe’s opioid market is changing, with other substances emerging alongside long-term heroin risks.
After the Taliban took over in Afghanistan in 2021 and banned opium production the following year, European officials warned that heroin could become harder to find, prompting people to turn to dangerous fentanyl derivatives or synthetic opioids.
In 2023, authorities dismantled 14 heroin production sites in Europe, mostly in the Netherlands.
One type of synthetic opioid, called nitazenes, is already causing problems in places like Denmark and the Netherlands, where health authorities have warned that people could be buying counterfeit painkillers that actually contain nitazenes.
In 2023, the number of nitazene powders detected in Europe tripled. The drugs are so potent that even a small dose can be life-threatening.
Germany, France, Sweden, and Norway have reported clusters of overdoses linked to nitazenes, the EUDA said, while the drugs appear to be responsible for a “significant share” of overdose deaths in Estonia and Latvia.
“What we see already is people who are buying on the internet molecules, believing that they are medicines while in fact they contain other substances,” Goosdeel said.
Cocaine
In the past year, about 4.6 million European adults have used cocaine, making it the bloc’s most commonly used illegal stimulant.
It’s also becoming more popular. In 2023, EU member states seized 419 tonnes of cocaine – marking the seventh year in a row of record seizures.
The biggest busts were in Belgium (123 tonnes), Spain (118 tonnes), and the Netherlands (59 tonnes), which are key entry points for cocaine trafficked into Europe from elsewhere in the world.
Last year, Spain seized 13 tonnes of cocaine, which were hidden in bananas from Ecuador – its largest ever haul from a single bust.
Cocaine is also developed in the EU, with authorities dismantling 34 production sites in 2023.
The competitive market is driving an uptick in cocaine-related crime and gang violence, the report found.
The EUDA expects there to be a surge of people seeking addiction treatment in the coming years, given that there tends to be a lag of about 13 years between someone’s first time trying cocaine and their first time seeking treatment.
“We need to build the capacity to be prepared for treatment,” Goosdeel said, because at the moment, “we are not ready”.
Cannabis and synthetic cannabinoids
An estimated 8.4 per cent of adults – 24 million people – used cannabis in the past year, making it Europe’s most commonly used illegal drug, the report found.
Cannabis seizures rose slightly in 2023 after falling the year before, the report found. The market is worth at least €12.1 billion, and is run by organised criminal groups that cultivate, traffic, and sell the drug across Europe.
Cannabis may be common, but it isn’t without its health risks. It can cause or worsen chronic respiratory issues and psychotic symptoms, with long-term, regular users at higher risk.
Meanwhile, a class of drugs known as synthetic cannabinoids are a growing concern, the EUDA said.
These highly potent drugs may be added to edibles or other cannabis products without people’s knowledge, raising the risk of poisoning or other health problems.
Last year, European countries detected 20 new cannabinoids, representing more than 40 per cent of the new substances identified by the EU’s early warning system.
The possible health consequences of cannabinoids are “poorly understood,” the report said. Still, they may be tied to fatal poisonings or other problems because they have such a high concentration of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis that makes people feel high.
“So yes, there is a danger,” Goosdeel said.
