Cocaine use is on the rise across Europe, an EU-wide wastewater study showed Wednesday, with the highest levels of residues found in Belgium, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands.
The largest study to date, by the Lisbon-based European drug monitoring agency EMCDDA, analyzed daily wastewater in the catchments of treatment plants serving approximately 54 million people in 104 European cities. bottom.
Analyzing samples collected during a week from last March to April, looking for traces of cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDMA/ecstasy, ketamine and cannabis, found more drug use than previous studies. I understand.
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On September 10, 2021, water is flowing out of a sewage treatment plant in Brandenburg. A study analyzing wastewater found that cocaine use was on the rise across Europe. (Images courtesy of Soeren Stache/Getty Images)
Alexis Goosdeel, director of the EMCDDA, said in a statement: “Today’s findings from a record 104 cities paint a broad and complex picture of the drug problem, with all six substances nearly Detected everywhere.
The results show a “continued increase in cocaine detections,” a trend observed since 2016, with more cities reporting traces of methamphetamine (also known as a stimulant).
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More than half of the 66 European cities with data for 2021 and 2022 recorded increases in cocaine residues.
Ketamine was included in the 2022 analysis for the first time due to “an indication of increased ketamine availability in Europe”. Residues were highest in urban effluents from Denmark, Italy, Portugal and Spain.
