Opioids were implicated in most of the 6,100 overdose deaths in Europe in 2012, but the situation is becoming increasing complex in the case of synthetic drugs, a new report reveals.
These synthetic drugs, including stimulants, new psychoactive substances and medicinal products, are becoming more prominent in drug markets throughout Europe.
The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) European drug report 2014 summarises the latest trends across the 28 EU member states, as well as in Norway and Turkey.
Both the quantity of heroin and the number of seizures have fallen considerably in recent years and the numbers entering treatment for heroin use continues to decline. In Ireland, 3,971 (52 per cent) of those who entered treatment for drug problems in 2012 reported opioids, mainly heroin, as their primary problem drug.
The number of those entering treatment for the first time for heroin use was 949 in 2012. This is the equivalent of 29 per cent of new clients entering treatment.
In Ireland, 8 per cent of first-time opioid clients entering specialised treatment in 2012 were misusing opioids other than heroin. Among opioid clients entering treatment in 2012, 45 per cent reported injecting the drug.
In 2012, there were 13 newly diagnosed HIV cases among intravenous drug users in Ireland. The number of cases has been decreasing since 2004, when 71 cases were recorded. The same year saw injecting drug use account for 76 per cent of all hepatitis C virus (HCV) diagnoses. The number of deaths in which heroin, alone or with another substance, was a factor decreased from 72 in 2010 to 60 in 2011 (20.5 per cent of poisoning deaths). In 2011, methadone (either alone or with another drug) was implicated in 113 deaths, compared to 60 in 2010. It is known that 68 per cent of those who died in 2011 were not in opiate substitution treatment at the time of their death.
Source: Gary Culliton, Irish Medical Times, 12/06/14
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