News di Alcologia

by ANNALIZA BORG
Malta has the eighth-highest estimated level of problem drug use in the EU, according to the recently published World Drug

Report 2010.
Compiled by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the report makes reference to several reports including ESPAD and

the EMCDDA Statistical Bulletin 2009.
Nearly six per 1,000 Maltese in the 15-64 age group are estimated to use drugs. The UK, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Denmark,

France, and Portugal surpass Malta, with the highest number of problem drug users, over 10 per 1,000, being in the UK.
The estimated trends in overall problem drug use per 1,000 people were 5.8 people for Malta in 2004. This went up to 6.2 the

next year but dropped to 5.7 in 2006.
Ecstasy use among Maltese students in the 15-16 age group is increasingly significantly. While the annual prevalence was

about one per cent in 2003, it rose to four per cent in 2007. Meanwhile, the use of cannabis among 15-16 year-old students

studied between 1995 and 2007 is climbing at a quite alarming rate, although the prevalence of the drug is on the low side.
In Europe, cannabis use has been stabilizing over the past few years, but some countries, including Malta, are registering an

increase. The lifetime prevalence of cannabis use among 15-16-year old students was eight in 1995 but shot up to 13 in 2007.
Worthy of note is the fact that in 2008, the wholesale price for cannabis resin in Malta was some US$3 per gram but its

retail price was about US$13 per gram.
Some 0.8 per cent of the 15-64 western and central European population (which includes Malta), used ecstasy at least once in

2007. In fact, some 2.2 million people are estimated to have used the drug in the same period.
The drug report points out that the world's supply of the two main problem drugs - opiates (mainly heroin) and cocaine - has

been declining over the last two years. The global area under opium cultivation has dropped by almost a quarter (23 per cent)

in the past two years, and opium production looks set to fall steeply this year due to a blight that could wipe out a quarter

of Afghanistan's production. Coca cultivation was down by 28 per cent in the past decade.
Heroin and cocaine markets are stable in the developed world, it notes. But stabilization of the cocaine and heroin markets

masks a growing problem on the misuse of prescription drugs in many parts of the world. Subsequently, according to the

report, the global number of people using amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) is likely to exceed the number of opiate and

cocaine users combined.
"The ATS market is harder to track because of short trafficking routes (manufacturing usually takes place close to main

consumer markets), and the fact that many of the raw materials are both legal and readily available. Furthermore,

manufacturers are quick to market new products (like Ketamine, Mephedrone and Spice) and exploit new markets.
"We will not solve the world drugs problem if addiction simply shifts from cocaine and heroin to other addictive substances,"

the report says, warning of complacency.
Since 1998, the year of the last UN General Assembly Special Session devoted to the drug problem, global potential opium

production has increased by 78 per cent, from 4,346 metric tonnes (mt) to 7,754mt in 2009. Fortunately, these production

increases do not correspond to consumption increases, as it appears that large quantities of opium have been stockpiled in

recent years. This means, however, that, as the head of the police anti drug squad Neil Harrison said in an interview with

this newspaper, that even if production were completely eliminated today, existing stocks could supply users for at least two

years.
In contrast to heroin and cocaine, only very broad production estimates can be given for cannabis and amphetamine-type

stimulants (ATS). Due to the decentralization of production, it is difficult to track global trends in either of these

markets. Between 13,000 and 66,100mt of herbal cannabis were produced in 2008, as were 2,200 to 9,900mt of cannabis resin.

Manufacture of the amphetamines-group of ATS (amphetamine, methamphetamine, methcathinone and related substances) was in the

range of 161 to 588mt in 2008. Manufacture of drugs marketed as ‘ecstasy' ranged from 55 to 133mt.
Opiate seizures continue to increase. This applies to both opium and heroin seizures. Morphine3 seizures, in contrast,

declined in 2008.
Tracking global ATS seizures is more complicated, because there are several products involved that appeal to different

markets, including amphetamine, methamphetamine and ‘ecstasy'. After tripling in the early years of this decade, ATS seizures

have remained stable since 2006. Ecstasy seizures showed a marked decline in 2008 compared to a year earlier. Global seizures

of amphetamine and methamphetamine remained largely stable at very high levels in 2008. Global cannabis herb seizures

increased over the 2006-2008 period (+23 per cent), especially in South America, reaching levels last reported in 2004.

Global cannabis resin seizures increased markedly over the 2006-2008 period (+62 per cent) and clearly exceeded the previous

peak of 2004. Large increases in cannabis resin seizures in 2008 were reported from the Near and Middle East region, as well

as from Europe and Africa.
Overall drug use in Malta
Some 0.57 per cent of the population aged 15-65 is estimated to use opiates in Malta. This is no insignificant percentage in

comparison with the rest of western and central Europe. The lowest percentage use: 0.1 per cent, was registered in the UK,

Spain, Poland Lithuania, and Hungary while Italy and Latvia registered the highest percentage use: 0.72 and 0.75 per cent

respectively.
Some 1.1 per cent of our population is estimated to use cocaine. Yet, 2.2 per cent of the Italian population is estimated to

use the drug and three per cent use it in Spain, England and Wales. The lowest consumption, 0.1 per cent was registered in

Greece. However, in 2008, Malta registered three cocaine related deaths from a total of eight drug deaths. This meant that

0.74 per cent per 100,000 inhabitants had died from the drug. This was the second highest figure of cocaine related deaths

given in the World Drug Report. The highest figure, 0.77 per 100,000 inhabitants was registered in Ireland but this was for

2005.
In his interview with this newspaper, Mr Harrison pointed out that seizures of the drug in Malta have nearly trebled since

2005 and the police are aware of cocaine users at all levels of society - from low-income earners to those in the middle and

high-income brackets. In 1994, when he first worked with the anti-drug squad, cocaine was considered an elitist drug.
The use of cannabis is more widespread in Malta where 4.5 per cent of the population is estimated to use it. Consequently,

its use in Malta is not much less than that of Holland, where possession of small quantities is legal. However, three times

as much Italians, 14.6 per cent of the population, use it, falling just a little bit short of the highest percentage use -

15.2 per cent registered in the Czech Republic.
Meanwhile, the use of amphetamines is quite high in Malta where 0.9 per cent of the population uses such drugs - the same

percentage as in Spain, Latvia and Belgium. Some 1.2 per cent use amphetamines in the UK, 1.1 per cent uses them in Norway,

1.2 per cent in Denmark and 1.7 per cent in the Czech Republic.
Some 0.9 per cent of the Maltese population take ecstasy pills. The highest use in Europe was registered in the Czech

Republic at 3.6 per cent, and the lowest, 0.2 per cent, in Greece.