Reference indicator used by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), the analysis of wastewater from 75 cities in 25 countries (23 from the European Union, Turkey and Norway) thus reveals "an overall increase in detections" of cannabis, cocaine, amphetamines and methamphetamines.

Ecstasy (and its active ingredient, MDMA) is the only drug “for which residues have decreased in the majority of the cities studied”, is it added in the report.

Preferred explanation: many countries had kept nightclubs, the preferred places of consumption of ecstasy and MDMA, closed when this vast study was carried out, in the spring of 2021.

These two drugs are, however, much less widespread than cannabis: 2.6 million adults declared having used it last year, against 22 million (3.5 million for cocaine and two million for amphetamines and methamphetamines).

The supply of drugs "remains high across the EU" and even exceeds "pre-pandemic levels" for cocaine.

A record volume of 213 tons of white powder was seized in the EU in 2020, the year of the latest data available even though it was marked by travel restrictions and closures of festive places linked to Covid.

202 tons were seized in 2019.

"This indicator and others suggest that at present there is no indication that the upward trend in the availability of this drug, observed in recent years, has changed," according to the Observatory.

The "3-MMC" threat

In general, "classic drugs have never been so accessible and new high-dose substances continue to appear", lamented its director Alexis Goosdeel during an online press conference.

“Almost everything that has a psychoactive potential today risks appearing on the market”, he added, with “a real risk in terms of public health”.

In 2021, 52 new psychoactive substances (NPS) were reported for the first time, "one per week compared to two 25 years ago", said Mr Goosdeel.

Among these NSPs, 15 new synthetic cannabinoids: these molecules produced in the laboratory, sometimes very highly dosed and toxic, imitate the hovering effect of THC (the psychotropic substance of cannabis) and can be present in e-liquids (for cigarettes electronics) or sprayed on grass, sometimes without the knowledge of consumers.

The EMCDDA 2021 report was already alarmed by their growth.

This year's report points to synthetic cathinones as a new threat, the effects of which roughly combine those of cocaine, MDMA/ecstasy and amphetamines.

Six new synthetic cathinones were detected.

The two most common are "3-MMC" and "3-CMC", most often snorted into powder and ingested.

The European Commission proposed their control in mid-March and the Netherlands found that the number of poisonings suspected of involving 3-MMC increased from 10 in 2018 to 64 in 2020.

Mexican cartels in Europe

The EMCDDA and its director are also alarmed that Europe is becoming "a major producer of drugs, synthetic drugs in particular", both for the local market and for export.

More than 350 illegal laboratories were dismantled in 2020, "including some large-scale cocaine, methamphetamine and cathinone production sites".

Twenty-three cocaine processing laboratories have been discovered, a rising figure "which indicates that traffickers are employing more innovative methods to supply the European market."

Traditionally specialized in the trafficking of white powder, Mexican cartels are said to be increasingly involved in the production on the Old Continent of synthetic drugs, in particular methamphetamine, which is currently much more widespread in North America.

But, still according to the report, "this development presents the risk of greater availability and a potential increase in consumption" in Europe.

© 2022 AFP