Drugs: Johansson (European Commission), market and consumption “evolve quickly and fuel violence and corruption”

As she commented the yearly report on drugs of the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), Ylva Johansson, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, states: “The European drug market is fast moving and volatile, fuelling violence and corruption”. Johansson adds: “The flow of illicit drugs into Europe is coming particularly through our ports. That is why we have set up a European Ports Alliance to strengthen the resilience of our logistical hubs against the threats posed by organised crime. It takes a network to fight a network”. Meantime, “new drugs and dangers continue to arise. And that is why we have equipped our drugs agency with greater powers and resources. The drugs agency is doing a very important job, alerting us to the spread and dangers of drugs. The European Drug Report is a vital resource for policymakers. We need to be vigilant; we need to be prepared”. According to the report, “one of the challenges facing drug surveillance in 2024 is to gain a deeper understanding of what drugs are actually being consumed and in what combinations”. The priorities of the new European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA), launching on 2nd July, “will include enhancing the monitoring of patterns of polysubstance use and the understanding of what constitutes effective prevention, treatment and harm reduction interventions”. The agency “will also strengthen its analytical capacity, through an EU network of forensic and toxicological laboratories”.
Valentina Bombelli