With the presence of drugs on the rise in Europe, what is the EU doing to put a stop to it and prevent dramatic consequence?
The scope for action to combat the presence of drugs and their consequences is as vast as it is delicate, because drug trafficking always finds its way in.
Indeed, the availability of drugs is high in Europe, according to a June 2023 report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, or EMCDDA. Presenting the report, Alexis Goosdeel, its director, summed up the drugs situation on the European continent.
“If we want to characterise the drug situation, there are three main trends: – The first is that drugs are EVERYWHERE, – EVERYTHING can be used as a drug today, And EVERYONE can be confronted, either directly or indirectly, with any addictive behaviour. But what is also new are the consequences of drug-related violence. Ten years ago, when we were talking about drug-related violence, we were talking about Central America. Today, we are talking about the European Union, and all member states are facing the problem.”
CURBING DRUGS PRESENCE IN THE EU
The European Union is struggling to control goods entering its ports effectively, leaving plenty of scope for drugs to enter and spread throughout its territory. Knowing that only around 2 per cent of goods entering the EU are actually checked, large quantities of drugs generally transit through major ports such as the Belgian port of Antwerp.
This is why, in the months following the publication of the report, Brussels announced a series of actions aimed at reducing trafficking and increasing drug seizures before they flood the market.
The Global Commission on Drug Policy brings together former heads of state and government to inspire better drug policy worldwide. Ruth Dreifuss, former president of the Swiss Confederation, is a member of the Commission. She believes that coordination between countries is one of the most crucial aspects of the fight against drug trafficking.
Ruth Dreifuss, Member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy: Drugs remains highly profitable for criminal organisations
“I think that only determined police action, [determined] customs and container controls and, of course, exchanges of information between all European countries, are crucial. But the second thing that strikes me as important, both at European and global level, is the money that organised crime makes from drugs. Unfortunately, it’s not just drugs, it’s also trafficking in human beings, in organs, in weapons and anything else that can make money. But drugs remain the most profitable sector. And there, you have to follow the money and take it. In other words, we are really working together on money laundering, monitoring the Darknet and the means of communication; it’s also about infiltrating these gangs… All this has to be done, in close coordination between all the European countries, and between the European countries and the countries where some of these substances come from.”
REPRESSION SHOULD BE REDUCE
Ruth Dreifuss and the Global Commission on Drug Policy advocate reducing repression of consumers in general and concentrating on the biggest fish, namely organised crime.
The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, has echoed this view. On 29 September she organised the second EU-Colombia dialogue on drugs, in the company of Iván Velásquez Gómez, Colombia’s Minister of Defence.
Ylva Johansson, European Commissioner for Home Affairs: Growing organised criminal groups call for EU actions
“It is clear that organised criminal groups have been stronger and more professional in the EU. But in my view, that is no excuse not to try to fight them even harder. And I think, especially for the EU level, is that the cross border element that has been more and more present and also the online component that is also more present. These both aspects of the organised criminal groups call for EU actions.”
In fact, the EU is consolidating its partnerships with third countries where drugs are most likely to originate. On 28 September, EU interior ministers signed a joint declaration with their Latin American counterparts, pledging to coordinate their efforts on criminal threats of all kinds.
The European Commission has also announced that it will soon be launching a new version of its multidisciplinary European platform for combating criminal threats, known as “EMPACT”. This updated version should make it possible to step up customs controls, thanks in particular to increased resources, said the Commissioner.
Finally, Brussels has indicated it intended to launch a European ports alliance in the near future. This should form part of an action plan on drugs, expected to be presented on 17 October.
All these announcements show that the EU is ready to confront the drugs problem more seriously, as previous policies have not proved effective in curbing it. But much more is needed to tackle the dramatic consequences of drug use – and drug-related violence – on the ground, including a proper health policy on the matter, for example.
PREVENTING HARM
The highest risk associated with drug consumption is overdose, which is particularly linked with opioids, such as Fentanyl. The case of the United States – where tens of thousands of people die each year due to Fentanyl consumption – is looming large on the horizon. In the EU, a greater diversity in the substances has been observed in recent years, including new synthetic drugs. The risks related to them are the mixing of the substances or even the presence of poison in the mixture.
In order to avoid fatalities, it is essential to know the type of substances consumers take, and to monitor their consumption closely. This is where drug consumption rooms can be useful, according to many experts. Ruth Dreifuss is one of these advocates.
Ruth Dreifuss, Member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy: Why drug consumption rooms reduce risks significantly.
“This tool is extremely powerful for harm reduction, first of all because it puts us in touch with users, and often marginalised users. The people who come to drug consumption rooms are those who don’t use drugs at home in a cosy flat, but who used to do so on the street, running the risk of overdose in particular. So preventing overdoses is very important, antidotes availability, advice, and help to control consumption.”
Some countries have taken this option seriously and have opened drug consumption rooms in recent years. The Netherlands and Germany each have 25 on their territory, while Denmark, Portugal and Spain are also good examples. Still, the total number of such consumption rooms in the EU was only 83 in June 2023, and there were none in most member states.
Another example of good practice raised by Ruth Dreifuss are the drug checking centres. These allow drug consumers to have their drugs tested before taking them. Her country, Switzerland, has developed these centres at a rapid pace in the last few years. But in the EU, only 12 countries appear to have set up such facilites. Slovenia is one of those experimenting with this option.
While the main aim of these structures is to protect consumers against infection, serious intoxication and overdose, they also open up a dialogue with consumers, which can only be beneficial, as Dreifuss pointed out. On another level, it also enables the authorities to gather information on substances present locally, as well as on consumer habits.
Further efforts can also be made at EU level, in particular to improve the sharing of information on consumption habits and risks. From July 2024, the EMCDDA will become the European Union Drugs Agency, or EUDA, and its powers will be increased: from a simple task of producing information on the presence of drugs in Europe, its remit will be broadened, so that it can better assess threats, alert the authorities, conduct campaigns and link laboratories.
This new mandate will be particularly important in terms of data collection, which can sometimes be very difficult, not least because of the different systems in place in the member states, as Alexis Goosdeel, the agency’s director, points out.
Alexis Goosdeel, Director General of the EMCDDA: We need to support member states for better monitoring
“At present, we do not have enough information on cases of death linked or associated with drug use. This is partly due to delays in the development of certain national registers – but this is not the main problem : there is a difference between the member states in the way data on deaths is recorded, in general, and in relation to drugs in particular. Some countries, such as Sweden, manage to cover almost all cases. This means that the statistics sometimes give the impression that there have been more deaths in one country than in another, but in fact this is because they have much better coverage of the number of cases and much better methodology.”
Goosdel also pointed to other technical barriers, such as differences in data analysis methods from one country to another, or even a more obvious problem: the question of budget for data collection and processing in the member states.
The future agency will attempt to fill certain gaps in this area, by supporting the member states in their effort. For the EMCDDA director, it is of paramount importance to make sure that the agency does not miss out on certain products or substances that are not very widespread in one country or on the European continent, but which cause fatal damage locally at one time or another.
Part of this work will involve putting laboratories in touch with each other and providing them with more samples, for example.
Alexis Goosdeel, Director General of the EMCDDA: Laboratories should be better equipped
We need to help member states detect and carry out toxicological and forensic analyses and, in some cases, provide them with reference samples for their equipment. This is because a drug can only be detected in toxicology if the equipment, for example the chromatography equipment, has the reference profile for that drug. Once again, this does not exist for new drugs, we don’t have these profiles, so some laboratories don’t have them. As a result, they are ‘blind’ to some of the new dangers. To this end, the new mandate calls for the Observatory to set up a European network of toxicology laboratories. The aim of this network is, above all, to give them the means to be better informed. In some cases, we will give them the means to carry out analyses that they cannot do in their own country, for example because of lack of money.”
Another area of action for the agency will be to alert member states and run campaigns aimed directly at the public. But ultimately, the ability to really curb consumption and avoid risks on the ground remains in the hands of the member states. It is they who decide, for instance, whether to better oversee drug consumption, or whether to authorise doctors to prescribe heroin to people trying to overcome their addiction.
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