Cannabis legislation in Europe: an overview.

IRELAND opioids (mainly heroin)• There was an estimated 1.3 million high-risk opioid users in Europe in 2015.• Of the 191,000 clients entering specialised treatment and reporting opioids as their primary drug in 2015, 29,000 were first-time entrants.The numbers of new entrants to treatment had declined from 56,000 in 2007, when they accounted for 36% of all new clients, to 23,000 in 2013.• In 2015, 17 European countries reported that more than 10% of all opioid clients entering specialised services presented for problems primarily related to opioids other than heroin, including methadone, buprenorphine, fentanyl, codeine, morphine, tramadol and oxycodone.• Among first-time clients entering drug treatment in 2015 with heroin as their primary drug, 29% reported injecting as their main route of administration, down from 43% in 2006.• The EMCDDA estimates that at least 7,584 overdose deaths occurred in the EU in 2015, an increase from the 6,800 figure recorded in 2014.The reported number of overdose deaths increased among older age groups between 2007 and 2015, while those among younger age groups decreased.• Viral hepatitis, particularly infection caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV), is highly prevalent among injecting drug users across Europe, with 5 of the 13 countries with national data reporting a prevalence rate in excess of 50% in 2014-15.Drug injection is a risk factor for other infectious diseases, including hepatitis B, tetanus and botulism.• The quantity of heroin seized within the EU had been declining steadily between 2002 and 2013 when 5.6 tonnes were seized.A total of 8.9 tonnes were seized in 2014, but in 2015 some 4.8 tonnes were seized, a return to the levels registered in the early 2010s.The reversal in trends in 2015 was largely due to an increase in large seizures (above 100 kg ) in several countries. Cocaine• Cocaine is the most commonly used illicit stimulant drug in Europe.Its use is more prevalent in the south and west of Europe.It is estimated that about 2.3 million young adults aged 15 to 34 (1.9% of this age group) used cocaine in the last year.Only Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (UK) reported lastyear prevalence of cocaine use among young adults of 2.5% or more.• The decreases in cocaine use reported since 2008 had not been observed in the most recent surveys; of the countries that have produced surveys since 2014, three reported higher estimates, 12 reported a stable trend and one reported lower estimates than in the previous comparable survey. Cannabis• The EMCDDA estimates that around 17.1 million (13.9%) of young Europeans (15-34 years) used cannabis in the last year, 10 million of whom (17.7% of this age group) are aged 15-24 years.• The most recent survey results show that countries continue to follow divergent paths in last-year cannabis use.Of the countries that have produced surveys since 2014, nine reported higher estimates, six were stable and two reported lower estimates than in the previous comparable survey.• Levels of lifetime cannabis use in 2014 among school-aged children was, on average, 18%, with the highest levels reported by the Czech Republic (37%) and France (31%).• The number of first-time treatment entrants for cannabis as their main problem drug increased from 43,000 in 2006 to 76,000 in 2015.It is estimated that around 1% of European adults are daily or almost daily cannabis users.• In 2015, 703,000 seizures of cannabis were reported in the European Union (EU) (416,000 of herbal cannabis, 287,000 of cannabis resin).There were a further 21,000 seizures of cannabis plants.The quantity of cannabis resin, transported in large quantities and over long distances, seized in the EU is much higher than that of herbal cannabis (537 tonnes vs 73 tonnes).european drug trends 2017 continued 4 drugnet