Synthetic cannabis-derived products, opioids and cathinones – with effects similar to amphetamines – are "gaining ground," the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) warned on Thursday, calling for vigilance in the face of this "emerging threat."
"EUDA estimates that there were 7,500 drug-related deaths in 2023," compared to 7,100 in 2022 in Europe, cases "in which opioids combined with other substances were the main cause," it said in its annual report.
This text brings together and analyses data on the evolution of drug consumption and the market in 29 countries, the 27 member states of the European Union as well as Norway and Turkey.
The simultaneous use of several drugs "remains a source of concern" and complicates the treatment of users, the agency emphasizes.
Faced with the increase in seizures, particularly of precursors, and given the "increase in intimidation, violence linked to drug trafficking" and "the increased involvement of vulnerable young people throughout Europe," EUDA Executive Director Alexis Goosdeel called at a press conference for "action" by EU members to strengthen surveillance and alert systems.
"The rise of highly potent substances and more complex consumption patterns is putting a heavy burden on health and safety systems," he insists, comparing the situation to the myth of Sisyphus.
"Access to data is essential" to "give our law enforcement agencies the tools they need to fight criminals" and prevent their "hands from being tied," said European Commissioner for Migration Magnus Brunner. He said cooperation is "the key," particularly with Latin American countries.
Since 2009, "88 new synthetic opioids have appeared on the European drug market," the EUDA report said, describing them as "highly potent" and presenting "a significant risk of poisoning and death."
EUDA is also concerned about the growing production on European soil of other synthetic drugs such as amphetamines, MDMA, and cathinones. This proximity between production sites and consumers "could accelerate the evolution of consumption trends," it notes.
– Cannabis: 24 million consumers –
Seizures of synthetic cathinones – such as 2-MMC or 4-BMC – synthetic stimulants similar to cathinone (the active ingredient in khat), are on the rise: in 2023, 37 tonnes were seized in Europe, compared to 27 in 2022 and 4.5 in 2021.
"These were mainly large imports from India, transiting mainly through the Netherlands," the agency said, adding that significant quantities of these substances are also produced in European countries "where an increasing number of drug production sites are being detected."
Some 53 production sites of these cathinones were dismantled in the EU by 2023, most of them in Poland, compared to 29 in 2022.
Cocaine, however, remains the illicit stimulant "most consumed in Europe, by around 4.6 million" Europeans aged 15 to 64 in 2024. But the most popular drug remains cannabis, with 24 million users in Europe in 2024, according to EUDA figures.
The agency warns that some products sold as cannabis "may be adulterated with new synthetic cannabinoids with high active ingredient content, without users' knowledge." Cannabinoids are synthetic or semi-synthetic substances that mimic the effects of THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis.
In June 2024, around thirty people were seriously poisoned in Hungary after consuming “jelly candies containing powerful semi-synthetic cannabinoids”.
According to EUDA, "rapid changes in the European drug market are creating new health and safety risks," with "suppliers and consumers adapting to geopolitical instability, globalization, and technological advances."
The agency announced new initiatives, such as a "European alert system," "a system for assessing threats to health and safety," and a network of forensic and toxicological analysis laboratories to better share information" on these synthetic drugs, systems "currently under development."
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