EU reports 7,500 drug-related deaths in 2023, warns of surge in synthetic opioids
An estimated 7,500 drug-related deaths occurred across Europe in 2023, the EU Drugs Agency (EUDA) revealed in its annual report published on Thursday. The agency highlights the growing threat of synthetic opioids.
Synthetic opioids are lab-made drugs with extremely powerful effects. Fentanyl, notorious for fuelling the opioid crisis in the United States, is one such example. Since 2009, authorities have detected 88 new synthetic opioids on the European market, with seven new variants identified in 2024 alone.
Alarmingly, all seven of the newly identified compounds were nitazenes, highly potent substances sometimes stronger than fentanyl. The EUDA attributes the majority of last year’s 7,500 drug-related fatalities to opioids, often in combination with other substances. In countries like Estonia and Latvia, nitazenes played a significant role in overdose deaths.
The agency also reiterated warnings about counterfeit medications, drugs designed to resemble legitimate prescription medicines, such as benzodiazepines, but in reality laced with substances like nitazenes.
The report further notes a sharp rise in seizures of synthetic cathinones, a group of stimulant drugs chemically related to cathinone, the psychoactive ingredient in the khat plant. Traditionally chewed for its energising effect, khat is increasingly being processed into synthetic derivatives. Authorities confiscated 37 tonnes of synthetic cathinones in 2023, up from 27 tonnes in 2022 and just 4.5 tonnes in 2021.
In 2024, seven new cathinone-based substances were identified in Europe. Authorities dismantled 53 production sites for synthetic cathinones in 2023 - nearly double the number from the previous year. Most of these were located in Poland. Belgium, meanwhile, seized over 220 tonnes of khat leaves, 200 times more than in 2016.
Cocaine remains the most commonly used illicit stimulant in Europe. In 2024, an estimated 2.7 million young adults (aged 15-34) reported having used the drug. Cocaine seizures also hit a record high for the seventh consecutive year. In 2023, 419 tonnes were intercepted across the continent, up from 323 tonnes the previous year.
Belgium topped the list, with customs authorities seizing a record 124.3 tonnes, followed by large hauls in Spain and the Netherlands.
A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) chemist checks tablets believed to be laced with fentanyl in New York © Don EMMERT / AFP