Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Lebanon: Israeli occupation forces carried out an explosion in the southern border town of Kfar Kila
Russian Ministry of Defense: 37 Ukrainian drones destroyed in 4 hours over regions of Russia and the Black Sea.
Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.

Is there a drug addiction epidemic in Europe?

  • By Al Mayadeen net
  • Source: Agencies
  • 6 May 2022 15:47
3 Min Read

According to an EU report, cocaine and meth are at "record availability."

  • x
  • Is there a drug addiction epidemic in Europe?
    Is there a drug addiction epidemic in Europe?

According to an EU report released on Friday, the market for cocaine and methamphetamine is expanding in Europe, driven by record levels of trafficking and causing violence and health problems.

According to Europol and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), the EU, Norway, and Turkey seized the most cocaine ever in 2020 (214.6 tonnes), for the fourth year in a row.

The report described that the EU faces a "growing threat from a more diverse and dynamic drug market, which relies on close collaboration between European and international criminal organizations."

Just today, more than 500kg of cocaine were intercepted by Swiss authorities from a shipment of coffee beans transported to a Nespresso factory.

Workers at the Romont facility in the western Swiss canton of Fribourg notified authorities about a peculiar white substance found in sacks of coffee beans, according to police.

Alexis Goosdeel, the EMCDDA director, stated that the nature of the novelty market has caused "record levels of drug availability, increased violence and corruption, and worsening health problems."

Market disruptions induced by the Covid-19 epidemic had little impact, and cocaine trafficking by sea remained at pre-2019 levels.

Related News

Ukraine peace plan may include demilitarized zone, NATO support

US pledges intel role in Kiev’s post-war security framework

Cocaine, the EU's second most consumed narcotic after cannabis, has a market value of at least $11 billion in 2020.

An estimated 14 million individuals in the EU between the ages of 15 and 65 have used the substance, which is snorted as a white powder or smoked in a form often known as crack cocaine.

In 2020, police confiscated the majority of cocaine in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain, the three countries where the drug is mostly changed after being manufactured in Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru.

According to the report, Methamphetamine, the most common synthetic stimulant drug, seizures in the EU more than quadrupled between 2010 and 2020, while the quantity climbed by 477 percent to 2.2 tonnes in 2020.

Historically, production in Europe took conducted in tiny "kitchen" laboratories in the Czech Republic and neighboring countries, but it is now taking place in industrial-scale facilities in the Netherlands and Belgium.

According to the research, crystal methamphetamine is an "unwelcome addition to the EU drug market," and health consequences include "acute toxicity, psychotic episodes, polydrug use, and death."

Findings also indicate that Belgian, French, Dutch, and Spanish drug suppliers are now "in competition," which is leading to an increase in "violent confrontations," like kidnapping and murders.

Corruption is a major issue in the EU, according to the research, with over 60% of criminal networks using it as a facilitator.

  • Europe
  • cocaine
  • War on Drugs
  • Drug
  • health
  • European Union

Most Read

Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025
Launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen toward the occupied Palestinian territories. (YAF military media)

Yemeni Forces announce firing hypersonic missile at Al-Lydd Airport

  • Politics
  • 22 Aug 2025
The ‘Arab Façade’ for Israeli occupation in Gaza

The ‘Arab Façade’ for Israeli occupation in Gaza

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
A scene showing an al-Qassam Brigades fighter during an ambush on July 7, 2025, in a video released by the al-Qassam Brigades on August 26, 2025 (al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)
Politics

Al-Qassam reveals Beit Hanoun ambush targeting Israeli forces

A Palestinian youth stands on a hill overlooking IsraelI Ofer Prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP)
Politics

77 Palestinian prisoners killed in Israeli prisons since October 7

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during a joint press conference with US deputy special envoy for Middle East peace Morgan Ortagus at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, Tuesday, August 26, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy Barrack calls Lebanese journalists 'animalistic"'

Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks (Photo by Mahdi Rtail)
Politics

Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS