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Aim A central task for the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) is to produce an annual report of the latest data available on drug demand and drug supply in Europe. This paper is intended to facilitate a better understanding of, and easier access to, the main quantitative European level data sets available in 2015. Methods The European reporting system formally covers all 28 European Union (EU) Member States, Norway and Turkey and incorporates multiple indicators alongside an early warning system (EWS) on uncontrolled new psychoactive substances (NPS). While epidemiological information is based largely on registries, surveys and other routine data reported annually, the EWS collects case-based data on an ongoing basis. The 2015 reporting exercise is centred primarily on a set of standardized reporting tools. Results The most recent data provided by European countries are presented, including data on drug use, drug-related morbidity and mortality, treatment demand, drug markets and new psychoactive substances, with data tables provided and methodological information. A number of key results are highlighted for illustrative purposes. Drug prevalence estimates from national surveys since 2012 (last year prevalence of use among the 15-34 age band) range from 0.4% in Turkey to 22.1% in France for cannabis, from 0.2% in Greece and Romania to 4.2% in the United Kingdom for cocaine, from 0.1% in Italy and Turkey to 3% in the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom for ecstasy, and from 0.1% or less in Romania, Italy and Portugal to 2.5% in Estonia for amphetamine. Declining trends in new HIV detections among people who inject drugs are illustrated, in addition to presentation of a breakdown of NPS reported to the EU early warning system, which have risen exponentially from fewer than 20 a year between 2005 and 2008, to 101 reported in 2014. Conclusions Structured information is now available on patterns and trends in drug consumption in Europe, which permits triangulation of data from different sources and consideration of methodological limitations. Opioid drugs continue to place a burden on the drug treatment system, although both new heroin entrants and injecting show declines. More than 450 new psychoactive substances are now monitored by the European early warning system with 31 new synthetic cathinones and 30 new synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists notified in 2014. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol is a major risk factor for burden of disease and injury in Europe, and contributes markedly to between region differences in life expectancy. Monitoring and surveillance systems have shown to be a key factor in implementing effective policies. The aim of this paper is to propose a system of indicators for alcohol consumption and attributable harm which can be used as an over-time monitoring tool at the country level as well as for comparisons between countries. A systematic research in electronic data bases was conducted but most of the information was derived from ongoing international efforts to establish alcohol monitoring and surveillance systems. European Union. Countries. Exposure to alcohol, mortality, burden of disease. Adult per capita alcohol consumption, prevalence of abstention, and frequency of drinking more than 60g pure alcohol in one occasion are proposed as a minimal set of alcohol exposure indicators, which can quickly be implemented in all EU countries. With respect to health harm indicators, the best minimal choice which can be implemented quickly in all countries of the EU would be alcohol-attributable years of life lost due to premature death. In addition, country specific indicators could be added, when alcohol places specific burden on specific diseases. National and European Union-wide monitoring systems for alcohol exposure and attributable harm to inform public health-related policy decisions could be implemented easily. The establishement of such monitoring systems would follow the recent World Assembly resolution for a global strategy to reduce alcohol-related harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the development of a comprehensive alcohol policy in Europe. It mentions the Alcohol Measures for Public Health Research Alliance (AMPHORA) project, a plan that aims to push through with researches pertinent to alcohol policy in the European Union (EU). According to the author, a previous research indicates how unevenly research about the effects of alcohol taxes and prices is spread within the EU. He adds that AMPHORA proposes diverse projects including technical work for checking contamination on unrecorded alcohols and an analysis of alcohol's role in the Global Burden of Diseases and alcohol consumption. Another project mentioned is one that evaluates the need of alcohol treatment services and intervention in EU countries including Austria, Germany and Italy.

Aims: To quantify changes in (i) potency (concentration of Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabinol; %THC), (ii) price (euros/g of cannabis) and (iii) value (mg THC/euro) of cannabis resin and herbal cannabis in Europe. Design Repeated cross‐sectional study. Setting and participants: Data collected from 28 European Union (EU) member states, Norway and Turkey by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. Measurements Outcome variables were potency, price and value for cannabis resin and herbal cannabis in Europe, 2006–16. Inflation was estimated using the Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices. Mixed‐effects linear regression models were used to estimate linear and quadratic time trends, with a random intercept and slope fitted to account for variation across countries. Findings Resin potency increased from a mean [95% confidence interval (CI)] of 8.14% THC (6.89, 9.49) in 2006 to 17.22 (15.23, 19.25) in 2016. Resin price increased from 8.21 euros/g (7.54, 8.97) to 12.27 (10.62, 14.16). Resin increased in value, from 11.00 mg THC per euro (8.60, 13.62) to 16.39 (13.68, 19.05). Quadratic time trends for resin potency and value indicated minimal change from 2006 to 2011, followed by marked increases from 2011 to 2016. Herbal cannabis potency increased from 5.00% THC (3.91, 6.23) to 10.22 (9.01, 11.47). Herbal price increased from 7.36 euros/g (6.22, 8.53) to 12.22 (10.59, 14.03). The value of herbal cannabis did not change from 12.65 mg of THC per euro (10.18, 15.34) to 12.72 (10.73, 14.73). All price trends persisted after adjusting for inflation. Conclusions: European cannabis resin and herbal cannabis increased in potency and price from 2006 to 2016. Cannabis resin (but not herbal cannabis) increased in the quantity of Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabinol per euro spent. Marked increases in resin potency and value from 2011 to 2016 are consistent with the emergence of new resin production techniques in European and neighbouring drug markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commentary to: Understanding and learning from the diversification of cannabis supply laws [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the developments of the state of drug budgeting studies in Europe. It is indicated that the European Union action plans on drugs consults member states and the European Commission, with the cooperation of European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Abuse, to consider an action to estimate the drug-related expenditures.

Some European countries with high levels of unrecorded alcohol consumption have anomalously high rates of death attributable to liver cirrhosis. Hepatotoxic compounds in illegally produced spirits may be partly responsible. Based on a review of the evidence on the chemical composition and potential harm from unrecorded alcohol, the Alcohol Measures for Public Health Research Alliance (AMPHORA) project's methodology for identifying, analysing and toxicologically evaluating such alcohols is provided. A computer-assisted literature review concentrated on unrecorded alcohol. Additionally, we refer to our work in the capacity of governmental alcohol control authority and a number of pilot studies. The risk-oriented identification of substances resulted in the following compounds probably posing a public health risk in unrecorded alcohol: ethanol, methanol, acetaldehyde, higher alcohols, heavy metals, ethyl carbamate, biologically active flavourings (e.g. coumarin) and diethyl phthalate. Suggestions on a sampling strategy for identifying unrecorded alcohol that may be most prone to contamination include using probable distribution points such as local farmers and flea markets for selling surrogate alcohol (including denatured alcohol) to focusing on lower socio-economic status or alcohol-dependent individuals, and selecting home-produced fruit spirits prone to ethyl carbamate contamination. Standardized guidelines for the chemical and toxicological evaluation of unrecorded alcohol that will be used in a European-wide sampling and are applicable globally are provided. These toxicological guidelines may also be used by alcohol control laboratories for recorded alcohol products, and form a scientific foundation for establishing legislative limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To describe three aspects of the epidemiology of alcohol-attributable deaths in Europe, dose, demography and place, and to illustrate how such knowledge can better be used to inform alcohol policy formulation and implementation. epidemiological and population health modeling. Europe. Based on country-specific aggregate statistics. Exposure: country-specific adult per capita consumption triangulated with survey data; outcomes: mortality statistics. The absolute risk of dying from an alcohol-attributable disease and injury (accounting for a protective effect for ischaemic diseases) increases with increasing daily alcohol consumption beyond 10g alcohol per day, the first data point. Over 2/3 of all alcohol-attributable deaths occurring amongst the 20-64 year old population of the European Union (minus Cyprus and Malta) occur in the 45-64 year olds. About 25% of the difference in life expectancy between western and eastern Europe for men aged 20-64 years in 2002 can be attributed to alcohol, largely, but not exclusively, as a result of differences in heavy episodic drinking patterns. Any reduction in the dose of alcohol consumed, at least down to 10g/day, will reduce the annual and lifetime risk of an alcohol-related death. There is a need for alcohol policy to focus on measures in reducing alcohol consumption, throughout middle age, with immediacy of impact. Policy should strive to reduce alcohol-related health inequalities, with the specific recommendations for policy depending on the cost-effectiveness of interventions related to the epidemiological profile of the country or region under consideration. Fortunately, there are evidence-based policy options that reduce the amount of alcohol consumed and many alcohol-related harms with immediate effect, that reduce the risk of an alcohol-related death in middle age, and that would help to close the health gap between eastern and western Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Electronic Cigarette Use in the European Union: Analysis of a Representative Sample of 27 460 Europeans From 28 Countries" by K.E. Farsalinos, K. Poulas, V. Voudris, and J. Le Houezec which appears in a 2016 issue of the journal.