(Bloomberg) — As Europe continues to battle a massive influx of cocaine and a corresponding surge in trafficking-related violence, it must prepare for huge public health consequences from rising drug use in the coming years, the head of the European Union’s newly restructured drug agency warned.
Alexis Goosdir said in an interview that it would take at least two to three years for widespread effects on Europeans’ health to be felt, putting further pressure on national budgets.
“This is potentially a time bomb in terms of its impact on public health and on the budgets of member states’ treatment systems,” Goosdir said. “The problem is that at the moment there is no way to predict the magnitude of this impact.”
Goosdeer, a public health expert, joined the EU drug control agency in 1999 and has run it since 2016. He previously founded a Belgian public health NGO focused on drug harm reduction.
During Goosdir’s tenure, there has been a surge in cocaine entering the EU and an increase in seizures. According to the EU’s 2024 Drug Report, analysis of urban sewage for cocaine residues shows clear evidence of increased consumption, with levels increasing in 49 of 72 cities in 2023 compared to 2022. Thirteen cities saw levels remain stable and 10 saw levels decrease.
Goosdeal’s organization, renamed the EU Drug Agency from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, took on an expanded mandate from the EU on Tuesday in response to the growing problems from drug trafficking and related violence: developing an EU-wide threat assessment capacity and developing an expanded alert system to provide information on outbreaks and treatment, including providing information directly to hospitals.
Among people seeking specialized drug treatment for the first time in their lives in 2022, cocaine was the second most common problem drug, with an estimated 29,000 people, or 21% of first-time treatment recipients, naming it, and 23% of drug-related deaths involved cocaine.
The report found that there was a 13-year lag between first using cocaine and first being treated for a cocaine-related problem, and Goosdear suggested the full public health impact of rising consumption is yet to be felt. The agency’s annual report also warned that in many countries “there is evidence that investment in drug prevention activities is underinvested or resources are not being used efficiently.”
Another major concern is the emergence of “new psychoactive substances,” something the DEA has been monitoring for the past 27 years, with a new substance being detected roughly every two weeks.
While heroin remains the most commonly used illicit opioid in Europe, the emergence of new synthetic opioids has raised concerns among policymakers, given the ongoing challenges the United States faces in tackling an opioid crisis that claims tens of thousands of lives each year.
EU countries reported record amounts of cocaine for the sixth consecutive year in 2022, the most recent year with EU-wide data, at 323 tonnes. Data for early 2023 showed the trend continuing with a new record in the port of Antwerp-Bruges. The rise in drug-related violence, along with rising seizure volumes, has led the EU to develop an action plan for 2023, with a particular focus on ensuring security in European ports.
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