1st December, 2007

Around 4.5 million Europeans say they have used cocaine in the last year, according to a report from the European Union drugs agency.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction's annual report says that cocaine is the second most commonly used illicit drug after cannabis - ahead of both ecstasy and amphetamines. Around four per cent of all adults in the EU - 12 million people - have tried cocaine.

The report, issued late last month, also shows that nearly a quarter of all adults in the EU - a figure which equates to around 70 million people aged between 15 and 64 years - have tried cannabis in their lives.

Around seven per cent - some 23 million - have used cannabis in the last year including an average across EU nations of 13 per cent of young Europeans - those aged 15 to 34 years.

But unlike cocaine, the data shows that cannabis use is now stabilising or falling, particularly in high prevalence countries such as Spain, the Czech Republic, France and the UK.

Elsewhere the data shows that there are between 7,000 and 8,000 overdose deaths per year in Europe with no downward trend evident. There were 3,500 new HIV infections among drug injectors in 2005 with up to 200,000 drug injectors living with HIV in Europe.

~ www.eemcdda.europa.eu

- DAVID ADAMS