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Research Report
Eur Addict Res 2013;19:74–81
DOI: 10.1159/000341719
Cocaine-Related Health Emergencies in Europe:
A Review of Sources of Information, Trends and
Implications for Service Development
Guillermo Mena
a, b
Isabelle Giraudon
a
Elena Álvarez
c
John M. Corkery
d
João Matias
a
Kari Grasaasen
e
Noelia Llorens
c
Paul Griffiths
a
Julian Vicente
a
a
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Lisbon, Portugal;
b
Preventive Medicine and
Epidemiology Unit, Hospital Clínic, and Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB, Hospital Clínic
Universitat de Barcelona), Barcelona, and
c
Spanish Observatory on Drugs, Government Delegation for the National
Plan on Drugs, Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, Madrid, Spain;
d
School of Pharmacy, University of
Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK;
e
National Board of Health, Copenhagen, Denmark
since the end of the 1990s in these countries; these increases
peaked in Spain and England around 2007/08. Conclusions:
The analysis reported here suggests the need to develop
more standardized approaches to monitoring drug-related
emergencies. It points to the potential value of developing
effective referral links between the emergency and special-
ized drug services working with cocaine users.
Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel
Introduction
Cocaine use and seizures of cocaine have increased
during the last decade in Europe, with cocaine now being
the most-used illegal drug after cannabis. More than 14.5
million Europeans, or 4.3% of adults aged 15–64 have re-
portedly used cocaine at least once in their lifetime [1].
However, patterns of cocaine use in Europe vary consid-
erably with a high prevalence in a restricted group in
mainly Western European countries. During 2010, the
highest prevalence of cocaine use among young males
(15–34 years) was reported by Spain, Ireland, Italy and the
UK, as well as in Denmark (16–34 years) [2].
Key Words
Illegal drug use Cocaine-related health consequences
Health emergency services
Abstract
Background: Cocaine-related health consequences are dif-
ficult to observe. Data on drug users in health-emergency
settings may be a useful source of information on conse-
quences that are not visible via other information sources.
Methods: Thirty European countries submit an annual na-
tional report on the drug situation to the EMCDDA. All re-
ports for the period 2007–2010 were analyzed, with particu-
lar attention given to auditing cocaine-related mentions.
Analysis was also performed in order to identify sources and
case definitions, assess coverage, audit cases and, where
possible, to identify long-term trends. Results: Considerable
heterogeneity existed between countries in their approach
to recording drug-related emergencies, with only Spain and
the Netherlands having established formal indicators. The
highest annual numbers of cocaine-related episodes were
reported by the UK (3,502), Spain (2,845) and the Nether-
lands (1,211). A considerable (2- to 3-fold) increase in the
numbers of cocaine-related episodes has been reported
Received: March 31, 2012
Accepted: July 9, 2012
Published online: October 5, 2012
European
Addiction
c Re e s ar h
Isabelle Giraudon
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)
Cais do Sodré
PT–1249-289 Lisbon (Portugal)
E-Mail isabelle.giraudon @ emcdda.europa.eu
© 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel
1022–6877/13/0192–0074$38.00/0
Accessible online at:
www.karger.com/ear