UK tops league again

Almost 5 million teenagers in the European Union have used heroin at least once, according to the 1999 report of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) The Monitoring Centre, which is based in Portugal, was created in 1994 to provide European Union leaders with reliable statistics to help them co-ordinate drug policies.

The annual report estimates that one in five15-year-olds across the EU has tried cannabis, which increases to a quarter of those in their 20s. In England and Wales, Ireland, Denmark and Spain up to 40 per cent of those aged between 16 and 34 admit to having used cannabis. One in five teenagers in England and Wales is thought to have sniffed solvents, which have moved to second place in the table of most abused substance.

EMCDDA estimates that, out of a total population of 375 million, fewer than 1.5 million can be classified as problem drug users, but abuse is spreading and is highest in Britain, Italy, and Luxembourg. In Europe about 20 people a day die from drug abuse. The highest rate of fatalities is in Ireland and Greece whilst France and Belgium have the lowest.

Apart from cannabis, England and Wales also top the league in the use of ecstasy, amphetamines and LSD, followed by the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands. The report also says that, as far as teenage schoolchildren are concerned, England and Wales again have the worse drugs record.

On the positive side, the report says cannabis use among teenagers in England and Wales "has stabilised or even decreased", whereas it is still on the rise in other EU countries. Almost half of the entire heroin seized in the EU in 1997 was intercepted in Great Britain, which has consistently had the most drug seizures every year since 1995.

Drug-related HIV infection rates among intravenous drug users were 32 per cent in Spain but only 1 per cent in England and Wales. The agency estimates 40 million people have tried cannabis, out of an EU population of 375 million. As many as five million may have tried heroin, and the problem is spreading beyond big cities to towns and rural areas.

The report warns: "While in general heroin is more prevalent in urban areas, it is spreading to smaller towns and rural areas. There are also continuing reports of heroin smoking by new groups."

It estimates that up to 5 per cent of young European adults - 3 per cent of all adults - have tried cocaine, the highest rates being in France and Spain. As far as the criminal implications of use are concerned, ESPAD found that cannabis use is now rarely prosecuted across Europe and is decriminalised to all intents and purposes in a number of countries, such as Portugal, Spain, and Italy. However, the use of ecstasy is declining in popularity. Nevertheless drug arrests and seizures are rising across Europe. Drug offenders now make up half the prison population in some countries, and up to 90 per cent of prisoners are reported to be using drugs.

The report states: "Although the trend in many member states is to reduce the emphasis on prosecuting and imprisoning... police arrests and indicators of drug use in prison suggest some contradiction between theory and practice."

It adds that fewer drug users are now contracting AIDS - down to only 1 per cent in Britain - but hepatitis B and C infections are becoming worryingly common.