The exponential increase in cocaine production and trafficking has developed into ‘an unprecedented phenomenon’, according to the final statement of outgoing EUDA executive director Alexis Goosdeel.
‘Cocaine is today more accessible, more affordable and more potent in Europe than ever before,’ he said, with its arrival in record quantities through maritime containers fundamentally changing the operational environment for law enforcement.
Parallel to this has been the dramatic expansion in synthetic drug production, he said. ‘When I began my mandate in 2016 and we were detecting around two new psychoactive substances (NPS) every week. While innovation in synthetic chemistry was already accelerating, the situation today is radically different.’ More than 1,000 previously unseen substances had been identified by the EU’s NPS early warning system since the late 1990s, reflecting the ‘extraordinary dynamism of the illicit drug market and what we must monitor’.
Consumption patterns had been permanently changed by the ‘hyper availability’ of drugs, he continued, with polysubstance use now the norm and increasingly blurred boundaries between illicit drugs, non-classified substances and misused prescription drugs. Organised crime had also ‘adapted, expanded and diversified’, he said, with the surge in cocaine production intensifying competition and increasing levels of violence. Many countries also still lacked effective treatment protocols for cocaine and other stimulants, he added.
Although Brexit had disrupted ‘long-standing scientific and operational cooperation’ between the UK and EU, a new bilateral cooperation agreement had now been completed, he added. ‘Once formally approved, it will restore structured collaboration in crucial areas such as early warning, new drugs, harms and community-based interventions, an important step for both sides.’ EUDA’s new executive director, Dr Lorraine Nolan – formerly chief executive of Ireland’s Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) – will take up the post in January.
Meanwhile, around 8.7 per cent of 16-59-year-olds used a drug in the year ending March 2025 according to the latest Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), with ‘no statistically significant change’ compared to the previous year. Around 3.3 per cent of people reported using a class A drug – again largely unchanged – while around 2 per cent reported being frequent drug users, defined as more than once a month.
There were just under 311,000 opiate and crack cocaine users in England in 2022-23, according to the latest estimates by DHSC and UKHSA, with 17 per cent in the North West, 14 per cent in London, 13 per cent in Yorkshire and the Humber and 7 per cent in the North East. Taking into account the size of the general population in each region, the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West had the highest rates of use, ‘significantly higher than the England national average’. The lowest rates were in the East of England and the South East, the agencies said.
Final statement by Alexis Goosdeel, executive director of the EUDA at the end of his 10-year mandate: Europe and drugs — changes, challenges and future perspectives available here
Drug misuse in England and Wales: year ending March 2025 available here
Estimates of opiate and crack use in England in 2022 to 2023: main points and methodology available here