Somewhere

After over a decade of rising drug use, Europe may now be entering a more stable phase, says the EU drugs agency, the EMCDDA. Not only are there signs that heroin use and drug injecting have become generally less common, but new data suggest that levels of cannabis use may now be stabilising after a sustained period of growth. Nevertheless, positive messages are marred by high levels of drug-related deaths and rising cocaine use. These comments come today as the agency launches its 2007 Annual report on the state of the drugs problem in Europe in Brussels.... Download (PDF)

Hallucinogenic mushrooms were among the first psychoactive substances consumed by man. But today they present us with a new dilemma’, says EMCDDA Director Wolfgang Götz in the latest edition in the agency’s policy briefing series Drugs in focus out today.
Entitled Hallucinogenic mushrooms: the challenge of responding to naturally occurring substances in an electronic age, the briefing raises questions such as: ‘How to effectively regulate such a complex group of naturally occurring products?’ ‘How to apply controls when they are promoted and sold globally via the Internet?’ and ‘What can be done when regulatory actions may simply result in suppliers switching to alternative and possibly even more damaging products?’ ....Download (PDF)