Thursday, March 28

Spain, among the countries that consume the most cocaine in Europe; and Barcelona, ​​leader in ketamine


Cocaine and methamphetamine levels are rising in Europe. This is indicated by the last drug test in wastewater from more than 100 cities in the European Union and Turkey presented this Wednesday.

But the trends in the consumption of narcotics vary by area: while countries in the south and west, such as Spain, consume the most cocaine, those in the east and north of the continent concentrate the greatest residues of methamphetamine. In addition, the results show that almost all cities register remnants of all the drugs analyzed: MDMA, cocaine, methamphetamine, amphetamine, ketamine and cannabis.

In total, the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and the European group SCORE have studied the samples of 54 million people from 104 European cities in 21 countries to find out the behavior of Europeans in drug use. The conclusions point to a “continuous increase in cocaine detections”, something that experts have observed since 2016, as well as the evolution for methamphetamine. These samples can “provide early warning of emerging health threats,” says Alexis Goosdeel, director of EMCDDA.

In some countries, such as Spain, the waters of more than one city have been analysed. Specifically, the cases of Barcelona, ​​Tarragona, Lleida, Santiago, Valencia and Castellón have been studied.

Cocaine in the south and meth in the east

Cocaine residues continue to focus on cities in southern and western Europe, especially in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal. The city with the most milligrams detected per thousand people per day is Antwerp, in Belgium, followed by Tarragona, with an average of 1,610 milligrams per day per thousand people. In Spain, Tarragona is followed by Lleida, Valencia, Barcelona and Castellón. All these cities are in the top 20 cities with more cocaine residue than those analyzed.

Traditionally, its consumption was heterogeneous but now there have been increases also in Eastern Europe. In general, more than half of the municipalities that detect this drug report an increase in recent years.

The methamphetamine residues were located in eastern Europe, mainly in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but now that seems to be changing. The document indicates its presence now also in other parts of the continent, such as Belgium, Spain or Cyprus. The presence of this stimulant used to not be very high and now experts are especially concerned, in addition to its consumption, due to the increase in its production, as the EMCDDA already pointed out in its last European Report on Drugs.

Ketamine and other drugs

It is the first time that the body analyzes the remains of ketamine on the continent. As indicated in the study, they have decided to include this drug due to “indications of greater availability and consumption.” Although the levels are low for now, Barcelona is the city where the most waste has been found, out of 15 cities in total. The data for the Catalan city are 29 milligrams on average per thousand people, especially related to recreational consumption.

Cannabis remains the most widely used illegal drug in Europe, especially in southern and western cities such as Spain, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Portugal. On the other hand, the highest loads of amphetamine are located in northern and eastern Europe, while an increase in MDMA levels is detected in southern Europe, such as Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands or Belgium.



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