The constantly changing drug market poses new challenges for European states, explains Alexis Goosdeel, director of the EU Drugs Agency. Today he is the guest of the Global Conversation.
Faced with the diversification of illicit drugs and the increase in drug-related violence in the EU, innovative solutions are being put in place, explains Alexis Goosdeel, director of the EU Drugs Agency . Today he is the guest of the Global Conversation.
***”***Drugs are everywhere today.” says Alexis Goosdeel, director of the European Drugs Agency, “whether they are smuggled into Europe or produced on EU territory. Everything can be the subject of addictive behavior. Thus, the distinction (between hard drugs and soft drugs, illicit and licit) does not cover all the complexity, and polyconsumption Consequently, everyone can, individually, or indirectly, experience an episode – acute or chronic – of addictive behavior to one of these substances.
***”***It’s a market in perpetual motion. Cannabis and its derivatives remain the primary substance used in Europe. Cocaine is much more widespread today due to the dramatic increase in production and availability.
But we are also seeing an increase in the production of amphetamines and “chemsex”.”
**”**There are several types of health problems. One of them is, as we mentioned in our last European report on drugs, that we are seeing that we have returned to HIV infection rates prior to the COVID directive, which which is not a good sign. In other fields as well, that of infectious diseases, studies show that there is an increase in sexually transmitted diseases and that some of them are becoming resistant to antibiotics and therapies. It is therefore fundamental for prevention policies – for national or European drug policies – to have a more global approach and to try to also anticipate, and to address small groups of people who initiate a a practice which is not yet common but which could represent a danger or a serious risk to health.
“If you look at the starting point of the heroin epidemic in the EU, we have made enormous progress and we have achieved very good results through our collective approach in Europe, over the last 30 years.
The number of drug-related deaths has been dramatically reduced. Currently, 7,000 to 8,000 people die from overdoses in the EU, compared to more than 110,000 in the United States, with a larger population in Europe than across the Atlantic.
We have witnessed the remarkable development of the treatment offer, including substitution treatments. At the end of the 1990s, there were perhaps 30 to 35,000 places for treatment, whereas today Europe has more than 650,000. Regarding the heroin epidemic, this evolution has been gradual and very effective.
The basic problem and the challenge lie rather in the fact that there are more substances and more combinations of products, more polydrug addiction, and that we must change our approach to prevention, treatment and reduction of risks. And I’m not just talking about substitution treatments, which work very well for opioids.
It is also about developing new forms of prevention, treatment and risk reduction for other substances and other uses.”