Ireland has the highest number of young people who say they have used so-called 'head shop' psychoactive or synthetic drugs, a European Commission report has said.
A Eurobarometer survey found that new substances that imitate the effects of illicit drugs are increasingly popular, with 5 per cent of young Europeans saying they have used them.
The figures were highest in Ireland (16 per cent), followed by Poland (9 per cent), Latvia (9 per cent), the UK (8 per cent) and Luxembourg (7 per cent).
But the report urged caution in interpreting the results of questions on personal use of certain substances and questions about new substances.
"Despite the EU coverage, the sample sizes in each member state were relatively small to assess actual consumption, while the perception of substances included in the category 'new psychoactive substances' may have varied across countries and age groups," it stated.
According to the survey, a large majority of 15 to 24 year-olds across all 27 EU member states are in favour of banning these substances.
The EU last year identified what it said was a record number of 41 such psychoactive substances – which imitate the effects drugs such as ecstasy or cocaine and are sold legally.
This was up from 24 the previous year and 13 in 2008.
New psychoactive substances are becoming widely available in Europe at “an unprecedented pace”, the commission said.
A total of 115 such substances were reported since 2005.
They included a plant-based substance, synthetic derivatives of well-established drugs, and so-called ‘designer drugs’.
“The drugs, which can be just as dangerous as banned substances, are often sold over the internet and in specialist shops,” the commission said.
The report also assesses the current EU rules on tackling new psychoactive drugs.
The commission said it planned to strengthen these rules “to prevent such unsafe substances from being sold freely on the market”.
“New synthetic drugs are becoming widely available at an unprecedented pace in Europe. They can be toxic, addictive and have long-term adverse effects," said vice-president Viviane Reding, the EU's Justice Commissioner.
“We need to act at EU level and protect our children. The current system of detecting these new drugs is not fit to tackle the large increase in the number of these substances on the market.
“That’s why these rules must be strengthened to make sure young people do not fall into the trap of using these dangerous drugs. We must make sure that our legislative framework tackling these substances is strong and effective.”
For the 5 per cent of respondents who admitted to using synthetic drugs, the main sources were through friends (54 per cent), at parties or in clubs (37 per cent), in specialist shops (33 per cent), or over the internet (7 per cent).
One in 3 young men (32 per cent) admit having used cannabis at least once in their lifetime compared to one in 5 young women (20 per cent).
Europeans aged 15-24 make a clear distinction between cannabis and other illicit drugs – both in terms of availability and health effects.
Overall, far more young people consider cocaine (95 per cent) and ecstasy (92 per cent) to pose a high health risk to regular users than cannabis (67 per cent) – compared to 57 per cent for alcohol.
Among those young people who have never used cannabis, 75 per cent thought that its regular use would pose a high risk, compared to 36 per cent of those who have used the drug in the past year, the survey found.
Some 57 per cent of respondents believe they could easily obtain cannabis within 24 hours, while only 22 per cent said the same for ecstasy or cocaine.
The commission will present a series of options to deal with the issue in the autumn, it said.
A study published last month by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD) in Ireland found several potentially dangerous substances were being sold as food products online.
Most of the psychoactive drugs formerly on sale in headshops were made illegal under legislation, enacted in May of last year.
Since the legislation came into force, 102 of the 113 outlets in the country have closed.
The report - entitled New Psychoactive Substances and the Outlets Supplying Them - found five popular products being sold online, which underwent analysis, all contained illegal drug substances.