Europese landen tekenen gezamenlijk actieprogramma tegen drugs (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSEL - EU member states are to agree a common action plan against drugs on Monday (27 June), as the number of problem drug users in Europe has reached the record level of 2 million over the past year.

The most recent statistics show changing patterns in use of drugs across the EU.

While the use of heroine has gradually declined over the past years, the bloc has become the world leader in the use of synthetic drugs, mainly ecstasy.

The number of people demanding treatment for cocaine addiction, as well as teenagers using cannabis is also rising significantly, according to a 2004 Report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

The centre's recent analysis on gender differences among drug users shows that men in the EU are still more likely than women to use illicit drugs. But the gap seems to be narrowing with greater similarities in lifetime drug-taking experience, particularly among school students.

EU governments will sign up for a 2005-2008 action plan, setting out around 100 common initiatives, with distribution of responsibilities and schedules for their implementation.

They include social and health care measures linked with drugs addiction treatment and prevention.

The European Commission argues that there is a need for "solid and intelligent co-operation at the European level", pointing to a 2002 survey which suggested that 71 percent of Europeans wanted to see decisions on drugs taken by the EU.