Malta remains the country with the second highest rate of opioid (heroin) use, according to the European Drug Report 2016. With 5.3-6.2 people out of every thousand (around 1,600 people) being high-risk opioid (mainly heroin) users, Malta is only second to the UK, where around 8 out of every thousand people fall within this category.
In 2014 around 72 % of all clients entering treatment reported that heroin was their primary drug, followed by 16 % for cocaine and 9 % for cannabis. 1013 clients were in substitution treatment (methadone.)
0.3% of adults tried amphetamines during their lifetime. 3% of the school population had experimented with the drug at some point. In the case of MMDMA the total percentage of adults who had tried the drug during their lifetime was 0.7% while the percentage for students was 3%.
With regard to cannabis, 4.3% of adults had tried the drug during their lifetime while the total percentage of students who had consumed the drug at some point was 10%. It is pertinent to point out that the latest available data for Malta came from 2013 and some data was missing.
According to 2013 data – 0.5% of adults between the age of 15 and 64 had tried cocaine in their lifetime, while there is no data for the last twelve months. Among students aged 15-16, the percentage is 4%.
According to the report, tests found 100mg of cocaine residues per 1000 people in wastewater in Malta.
Other data shows that the rate of drug induced deaths in Malta is 6.9 per million people. In 2014 around 314,000 syringes distributed through specialised programmes
The report also shows how the authorities seized 2kg of heroin, 5 kg of cocaine, 42 kg of cannabis resin and 70 kg of herbal cannabis in 2014.
Where drugs come from
According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction cannabis is the only illicit substance cultivated locally, as a result of climatic conditions on the island. It is very easy to grow, even without artificial assistance.
Home growers are not uncommon and commercial operations are occasionally discovered. Cannabis resin is imported from Tunisia and Libya. Heroin is imported from Turkey, North Africa or western European countries, cocaine is mainly smuggled through Schengen countries, particularly Spain, ecstasy and other amphetamines are imported from other European countries, particularly from the Netherlands. Malta has also become a recipient of new psychoactive substances.
In 2014 the Malta Police Force arrested 537 people for drug-law offences. Of these, 407 were arrested for possession and 130 for supply. Most of the drug-law offences for possession were related to cannabis (213).
The European situation
The data gathered in the report describes a European drug market that remains resilient, with some indicators for cannabis and stimulant drugs, in particular, now trending upwards. Overall, supply data suggests that the purity or potency of most illicit substances is high or increasing.
One in four Europeans have tried illicit drugs. Over 88 million adults, or just over a quarter of the 15 to 64-year-olds in the European Union, are estimated to have tried illicit drugs at some point in their lives.
The most commonly used drug is cannabis (there are some 83 million Europeans who have tried cannabis during their lifetime), with much lower estimates reported for the lifetime use of cocaine (17 million), MDMA (13 million) and amphetamines (12 million).
There are also 1.3 million high-risk opioid (heroin) users. The drug was present in 82% of fatal overdoses. It was also the principal drug in about 40% of drug treatment requests.
Levels of lifetime use of cannabis differ considerably between countries, ranging from around four in 10 adults in France and one-third of adults in Denmark and Italy, to less than one in 10 in Bulgaria, Hungary, Malta, Romania and Turkey.
Interdiction efforts are challenged by the fact that production of cannabis, synthetic drugs and even some opioids and new psychoactive substances now takes place within Europe, near to consumer markets.
Cannabis accounts for the largest share in value of Europe's illicit drug market. Cannabis production has become a major income generator for organized crime.
Evidence also points towards a revival of the MDMA market: "high-dose powders, crystals and tablets with a range of logos, colours and shapes are available, with evidence of production to order and the use of sophisticated and targeted marketing."
from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/285HQjg
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