IRELAND HAS the highest number of young people who say they have used so-called psychoactive or synthetic drugs, according to a European Commission report.
A Eurobarometer survey commissioned by the justice directorate found new substances that imitate the effects of illicit drugs are increasingly popular, with 5 per cent of Europeans aged 15-24 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).
The report however 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 said.
The EU last year identified what it said was a record number of 41 psychoactive substances which imitate the effects of 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 were becoming widely available in Europe at “an unprecedented pace”, the commission said, with 115 such substances reported since 2005. They included a plant-based substance, synthetic derivatives of well-established drugs and so-called “designer drugs”.
The commission said it planned to strengthen the rules “to prevent such unsafe substances from being sold freely on the market”.
According to the survey, 34 per cent of young people questioned across all 27 EU member states are in favour of banning psychoactive substances. Some 47 per cent of interviewees favoured banning only those substances that posed a risk to someone’s health.
The commission would present a series of options to deal with the issue in the autumn, it said.