The European “capitals” of cocaine

The consumption capital cocaine of Europe is… Antwerp, according to data from the analysis of the city’s sewage. In fact, data shows that average daily usage has more than doubled since 2020.

More specifically, the people who live in his second city Belgium are at the top of the table for cocaine use in Europe, according to an analysis published on Wednesday by the EU’s drugs agency (EMCDDA) and the SCORE group, which assessed the waste from around 54 million people last year in more than 100 participating European cities. The volume of cocaine residues was higher on Mondays, reflecting that — in Antwerp at least — the drug it is used more on Sundays and Mondays.

As of 2018, cocaine use has shown a sharp upward trend in the city, which has only been discontinued since 2020 and has more than doubled in the past two years.

And, with an average of 2,381mg detected per 1,000 people per day, it far outstrips the next two highest-using cities: Tarragonawith 1,610 mg and the Amsterdam, with 1,142 mg. But in Antwerp, cocaine is an issue as much for what’s left in its port-a-potties as for its harbor.

Last year, Belgian authorities seized a record amount – 110 tons – of cocaine in the city’s port. Since then, authorities have announced plans to boost staffing and buy new detection equipment. It seems that where there is supply, there is demand. Cocaine use is also increasing in nearby cities such as Amsterdam (up 29% between 2021 and 2022), Brussels (up 28%), Utrecht (up 23%) and Eindhoven (up 14%).

“We are 100 percent sure that the prices are due to use and not due to being dumped by, say, a drug dealer or something like that,” he told the POLITICO João Matias, EMCDDA scientific analyst in charge of wastewater work.

This is due to the way cocaine is processed in the body, with analysts picking up a specific substance in the sewage that indicates the drug had actually been consumed. As well as cocaine, the analysis found residues of amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDMA (ecstasy), ketamine and cannabis in cities across Europe, providing a snapshot of the flow of illicit drugs.

Use of cocaine: The top 10 cities in Europe

In detail, the daily average amount of cocaine residues in wastewater in the participating cities in 2022, in milligrams per 1,000 people per day, in table below:

“Now a well-established science, wastewater surveillance provides us with increasing insight into the dynamics of drug use and supply. This is how we evaluate and draw conclusions about public health but also initiatives that concern political decisions”, said the director of the EMCDDA, Alexis Goosdeel.

Also the analysis of waste water was important during it pandemic COVID-19as it proved useful for tracking the spread of the coronavirus and its variants.