cannabisnews.com: 40 Million Tried Cannabis in EU, Survey Reveals





40 Million Tried Cannabis in EU, Survey Reveals
Posted by FoM on November 24, 1999 at 21:13:11 PT
By Yojana Sharma
Source: South China Morning Post
Cannabis is the most commonly consumed illegal drug in the 16 member states of the European Union.According to the latest report of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, more than 40 million people in the EU have tried the drug.As many as five million may have tried heroin.
Heroin continues to present major health and social problems, centre spokesman Richard Hartnell said at the launch of the annual report in Berlin.Researchers found up to 1.5 million people in the EU, which has a population of 375 million, were "problem drug-users".Most of them use heroin, which causes most of the 6,000 to 7,000 deaths each year in Europe from drug overdoses.People in Germany, Austria, Sweden and Finland are the least likely to take hard drugs such as cocaine or heroin, with three in every 1,000 people using them.In Italy, Luxembourg and Britain it rises to eight in every 1,000.Amphetamine use had risen dramatically, with up to 14 per cent of young people in the EU member states saying they had tried these synthetic drugs, including speed.But on the positive side, as in the United States, problem drug-use has stabilised in most EU countries with a drop in the number of drug-related deaths in many countries, particularly the high-use countries of Britain and the Netherlands.The report said there was no room for complacency as abuse was spreading from the cities to smaller towns.Drug use varies widely across the EU.In Britain and Ireland 40 per cent of 15 and 16-year-olds admitted to trying drugs compared to five per cent of that age group in Portugal and Finland.Researchers believe the difference is in youth culture, with drug use seen as "cool" in Britain.In the US they believe a drop in drug use there may be associated with changes in youth culture which no longer sees drug use - especially by pop stars and movie stars - as hip. Published: Thursday, November 25, 1999Published in the South China Morning Post. Copyright © 1999. Related Article:Britain Cannabis Capital Of Europe - 11/23/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3762.shtml
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