Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
New statistics indicate that a third of Europeans have used illegal drugs at least once in their lives.
European countries differ in the pattern and frequency of illicit drug consumption, as 15% of young people across the European Union use cannabis (marijuana). In contrast, 2.5% of them use cocaine, according to a report issued by the European Commission and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Cannabis is the most consumed in the Czech Republic, Italy, France and Spain, unlike Malta, Turkey and Hungary, according to EU data.
As for cocaine, the Netherlands, Spain and Ireland top the list of countries that consume it the most, while its lowest rates are recorded in Turkey, Portugal, Poland and Hungary. According to what was published by the Euronews website, "In Brussels, in the middle of this year, the Drug Control Agency warned in a report it published of a significant increase in the consumption and availability of drugs "everywhere" in the European Union.

Alexis Gosdel, Director of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Substances, said during a press conference presenting the results of the report: "We have never had so many drugs available or produced on the territory of the European Union."
Gosdel added: "The impact of illicit drug use is now evident almost everywhere in European society."
The report stated that 22 million people used cannabis, 4 million used cocaine, and about 3 million used MDMA, or what is called "ecstasy", during the past year in the European Union.