BRUSSELS, Nov 25 (AFP) - Drug consumption is at record high levels in Europe, where three million people a day smoke cannabis, and progress in curbing abuse may be short-lived, with potential addiction epidemics in new European Union members, a watchdog body warned Thursday.
"There are positive signs that progress has been made in reducing some of the worst consequences of drug use," the head of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), Georges Estievart, said here as the organisation released its annual report.
"The trend in drug-related deaths is now downwards after many years on the rise, heroin use has stabilised in many countries, and the HIV epidemic among injecting drug users may be slowing in some new EU member states," he said.
"At the same time, measures to reduce drug-related harm are intensifying and, across much of Europe, drug users have better access to treatment and care."
But he warned, "There is a risk that some of these positive trends may be short-lived and real concerns surround potential drug epidemics, particularly in some of the new members of our Union.
The Lisbon-based EMCDDA's 10th annual report said that in the Netherlands and Spain cocaine is now the second most commonly reported drug in treatment centres after heroin, representing over a third and a quarter of all demands respectively.
In the Netherlands around two-thirds of cocaine treatment demands are for the concentrated crack variety of the drug, and growing concern is also noted around crack use in a number of cities in Germany, Spain, France and Britain.
Recent cocaine use has risen among young people in Britain, Spain, Germany and Denmark, and equals US levels of more than two percent of all adults in the first two countries, the EMCDDA said.
"Some surveys in dance settings have revealed lifetime prevalence rates of 40-60 percent," it added, and while deaths attributed to cocaine alone are still rare in Europe "they may be on the rise."
The EMCDDA also reported a worrying trend of rising use of cannabis -- the most commonly used illegal drug in the EU -- among teenagers.
"Around 15 percent of 15-16-year-old school students in the EU who have used cannabis in the last year are 'heavy' cannabis users - using a definition of 40 or more times per year," it said.
In some countries, including the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Britain, ecstasy may be catching up or overtaking amphetamines as Europe's second most popular drug, the EMCDDA said.
"About two-thirds of the EU member states report recent ecstasy use to be more common than that of amphetamines among young people aged 15-34 years," it said.
While less than one percent of the European adult population can be defined as problem drug users -- between 1.2 and 2.1 million people in the enlarged EU -- there are signs of strong increases, notably in the newer member states.
Limited reports of trafficking in fentanyl -- a synthetic opiate up to 100 times more potent than heroin -- have been a recent cause for concern with seizures in Russia and countries bordering the Baltic Sea, the EMCDDA added.
"A substantial increase in fentanyl on the European market would be very worrying as its potential to cause problems is high," it said.
A "small but significant" six percent fall in drug-related deaths in the EU between 2000 and 2001 is likely to be due to reductions in drug injecting in some countries and increased access to treatment and prevention services.
But "numbers of overdose deaths are still historically high, and this downward trend may not be sustained. There are signs that drug-related deaths may soon rise in the new EU member states."
Deep concern also surrounds the continuing epidemic of HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS spread mainly by contaminated drug syringes and sexual intercourse -- in some of the new EU members and their neighbours beyond the bloc.
"Estonia, Latvia, Russia and the Ukraine are the countries with the fastest growing HIV epidemic in the world -- although there are signs it may have already peaked in Estonia and Latvia," the EMCDDA said.
"In Western Europe, the epidemic seems to have stabilised or to be declining among injecting drug users, but several 'old' EU countries are also showing signs of increased risk behaviour, either at local level or in specific sub-groups."
The report hailed the constant growth in all types of drug treatment but said demand still exceeds supply in some countries and called for more investment in prevention programmes.
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