Drugs: European survey of drug use. Emcdda, “an ever-evolving problem”

A European survey to collect information about the way the use of substances varies in Europe was launched by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (Emcdda) earlier today. The questions try to find out “how often people use drugs and how much they take”. The information collected through such online survey will provide “a more exhaustive picture of the use of psychoactive substances in Europe”, which will act as a basis to work out “future European drug policies”. 21 EU countries will be involved, including Italy, as well as some neighbouring countries (such as Switzerland, the Balkan countries, Lebanon, Ukraine and Georgia). The questionnaire will be available in different national languages and will be online for 6 weeks. People aged 18 and over, who have used cannabis (hashish or marijuana), cocaine, ecstasy/MDMA, amphetamine, methamphetamine, heroin or any new psychoactive substance at least once in the last 12 months, can take part in the survey, in an anonymous form. The questionnaire consists of several sections: socio-demographic data, patterns of drug use, access to care, access to treatments; the last part investigates the way Covid-19 has affected patterns of drug use. The collected information can also improve estimates of the extent of the market, both nationally and across Europe, as well as that of drug use, “an ever-evolving problem”.
Valentina Bombelli