00:03New health risks, rapidly evolving and even more complex drug markets, this is the alert
00:09launched on Tuesday by the European Union drugs agency. The annual report, based on data from
00:1527 EU member states plus Turkey and Norway, is concerned about the availability of these
00:21substances, but also about their variety and potency. This is the case, for example,
00:26with new synthetic opioids. New synthetic opioids are very highly potent substances. So just to give
00:33you some context on this, one gram is enough to make several thousands of lethal doses. So there
00:39is a very narrow margin between use and overdose in that such situation. They can rapidly emerge on
00:48the market. The situation can escalate and cause severe harms, including deaths. Cannabis remains
00:55the most commonly used illicit drug in Europe, with 24.9 million Europeans claiming to have used it
01:01last year. Despite being well established, this market shows that traffickers and markets are
01:07constantly evolving. One of the concerns in terms of cannabis itself would be diversion from new
01:15markets, that of course can always happen, and the increasing emergence of higher strength cannabis
01:21products in the European market. In some resin forms, for example, we are seeing purity of up to 33%. And
01:28of
01:28course, the higher the THC component in the drug, the more likely it is with longer term use to cause
01:36psychosis. The European agency is pleased, however, about a decrease in cocaine seizures. 330 tons were intercepted
01:45in 2024, compared to 419 tons the previous year. Despite this figure, the substance accounts for a third of
01:53people entering drug treatment in Europe. Faced with health and security risks, the agency calls on member states to
02:01invest in monitoring and preparedness and to act on both supply and demand.
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