Drug overdose kills approx 10.000 people in Europe
by Roni Alasor
Brussels, January 2021 - Middle East Diplomatic - According a newly published report from the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), latest estimates show that drug overdose deaths in Europe have risen for the fifth consecutive year, with a record 9 461 lives lost in 2017 (EU 28, Turkey and Norway).
Each year, drugs overdose kills between 7000-10.000 people in Europe. Only in England and Wales, total, 3,756 people were recorded as dying from legal and illegal drugs in 2017. It’s worst than ISIS-terror.
The EU retail drug market is estimated to be worth between 20-30 billion a year. But who are the main back men/women of those criminal gangs in Europe ? Where do they get support to distribute and sell this poison to kill thousands of people ? Why European authorities can’t stop this crime ?
The target of criminal gangs who are selling and disturbing the drugs is mainly teenagers/young people often from destroyed families, or children destroyed by the sick system supported by mentally ill people who hide them inside of our societies. Those are the people who are abusing their “power”, using the family conflicts and splitting parents and children by “advice”, manipulations and even force.
Most overdose deaths in Europe are linked to the use of opioids (heroin or synthetic opioids), although cocaine, other stimulant drugs and medicines also play a role. In a new online resource, Prevention of drug-related deaths in Europe, the agency provides an overview on the issue and the risk factors involved.
According EU reports, Turkey is still main route for heroin traffic from Afghanistan-Pakistan and Islamic republic Iran to Europe via Balkan countries. Most heroin in the world originates from Afghanistan, Myanmar and Laos, with Afghanistan being overwhelmingly the biggest producer.
Reports underlining that most heroin reaches Europe via Central Asia / Caucasus and the Balkan routes, starting in Turkey via Bulgaria, FYROM, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia into Italy or Slovenia; via FYROM into Kosovo* or Albania into Greece. A route via Ukraine and Romania is also gaining importance. (https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/organized-crime-and-human-trafficking/drug-control/eu-response-to-drugs_en
The Belgium director of EMCDDA, Alexis Goosdeel says: ‘Overdose deaths are preventable. We know from research that many of those who die have been struggling and living on the margins of society for years. We know that those who overdose once are at a very high risk of overdosing again. And we know that effective preventive and response measures exist that would allow us to avoid many deaths. Bystanders must also be empowered to save lives and prevent irreversible organ damage with effective medication’.
Source : European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA),