LONDON
The 2014 European Drug Report has labelled London the cocaine capital of Europe and Tuesday the most popular day for drug use.
The report says that 711mg of benzoylecgonine, cocaine’s main chemical, was found for every 1000 people in London after the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction took samples of sewage water in 42 cities across the EU in 2013.
Samples also taken in the same period in Amsterdam showed 293mg per 1000 people, while samples taken in Milan showed 233mg per 1000 people.
Drug use is one of the major causes of mortality rates among young people in Europe, both directly through overdose and indirectly through drug-related diseases, accidents, violence and suicide, the report says.
Around 6,100 overdose deaths, mainly related to opioids, were reported in Europe in 2012 compared to 6,500 reported in 2011.
“Cocaine remains the most commonly used illicit stimulant drug in Europe, although most users are found in a small number of western EU countries,” the report says.
According to the report almost a quarter of the adult population in the European Union, over 80 million adults are estimated to have used illicit drugs at some point in their lives.
aa.com.tr/en
