Paris (AFP)
Cannabis, cocaine, MDMA ... Ever more powerful, drugs are eminently available in Europe and the pandemic has increased the "dematerialization" of trafficking and delivery to consumers, alarms the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction on Wednesday ( EMCDDA) in its annual report.
Despite some local and temporary shortages, the document insists on the adaptability of traffickers whose supply has generally resisted restrictions and border closures.
Above all, "the pandemic has accelerated the uberization" of the market, summarizes for AFP Alexis Goosdeel, the director of the observatory.
Advertising on social networks, orders via encrypted messaging, home delivery: already at work before the appearance of the new coronavirus, these trends have been reinforced by confined life.
The report is also concerned about an "increase" in the use of benzodiazepines, anxiolytics diverted from their medical use or imitated by certain synthetic drugs, possible reflection of "mental health problems caused by the pandemic".
While young people and the most precarious are particularly vulnerable, the observatory fears "the effect of the hyper availability of all drugs" in Europe, explains Mr. Goosdeel.
In the long term, the crisis born from Covid-19 may favor their consumption and push some towards trafficking.
The EMCDDA report also alerts on developments in the cannabis market.
First, it remains by far the number one drug used in Europe, with more than 22 million annual consumers among 15-64 year olds.
It is also increasingly strong: the average THC content of the cannabis resin seized by the police oscillates between 20 and 28%, ie "the double of ten years ago" recalls Mr. Goosdeel who is alarmed by "potential risks to mental health".
The use of synthetic cannabinoids also worries the observatory.
These laboratory-produced molecules mimic the high effect of THC and are often sprayed onto weed, sometimes unbeknownst to consumers.
Guilty of multiple "bad trips", they have sometimes even caused deaths.
The report also highlights the unprecedented accessibility of cocaine.
European seizures, which set new records every year, reached 213 tonnes in 2019 - the latest data available.
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Its abundance also feeds the increase in the consumption of crack, a very addictive smokable derivative, in certain countries such as France.
All the drugs on the market are increasingly produced in Europe itself, notes the observatory: 3.7 million cannabis plants were seized on the continent in 2019 and 370 clandestine laboratories dismantled.
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