EUobserver.com

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Figures published by the European Commission on the occasion of the World No Drugs Day (26 June) show that within the EU member states, over 8,000 people die of drugs overdoses each year.

According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), the majority of those dying from drug overdoses are mainly young men in their 20s and 30s.

But it is estimated that the total number of drugs-related deaths could be as much as three times higher, due to under-reporting of deaths and to deaths indirectly linked to drugs such as HIV deaths.

The amount of drug consumption is continuously increasing and there are little signs that the situation might get better, the EMCDDA indicates.

Each month, about 1.5 million Europeans use cocaine and 12 million persons use cannabis with 3 million of those taking cannabis doing this on a daily basis.

The EMCDDA study also says that 8 percent of young people within the EU take ecstasy on a regular basis, making ecstasy the second most common drug after cannabis.

Meanwhile, the European Commission adopted on Monday (26 June) a green paper which calls for more dialogue with civil society organisations active in the fight against drug abuse.

"Within our policy, close cooperation with partners of civil society is a key to success. My objective for the coming months is to bring civil society organisations more closely into the policy process at EU level," said commissioner for Justice Franco Frattini.

"We know that health policy can only be effective if it is informed and supported by those working in the field. This is why it is important to ensure the involvement of drug-related NGOs, which can only improve our policy focus and relevance," commissioner for health Markos Kyprianou added.

The commission adopted an Action Plan on Drugs in 2005, expected to cover the period till 2008.

The plan includes European help for countries outside the EU where drugs are cultivated to strengthen their chance the develop an economy which is not drug-dependent.

EU assistance to third countries amounted to over 500 millions euros in 2005 with help being mainly directed to Afghanistan and Latin America.

EU drug consumption increasing, report says