Malta has one of the lowest prevalence rates of once in a lifetime use of cannabis (3.5 per cent) in Europe even though it is the most commonly used illegal substance in Europe, according to the recently published 2005 Annual Report of European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

Between three per cent and 31 per cent of adults aged between 15 and 64, have tried the substance at least once in their lifetime, the study said.

It is followed by Portugal (7.6 per cent) and Poland (7.7 per cent).

Denmark has the highest once in a lifetime use of cannabis (31.3 per cent), followed by the United Kingdom (30.8 per cent) and France (26.2 per cent).

Malta, Greece and Sweden reported having the lowest prevalence rates (between one and 11 per cent) of adults report having used cannabis in the last 12 months, while the Czech Republic, France, Spain and the United Kingdom had the highest.

The report stated that “there is growing concern in Europe about the negative impact of cannabis use,” and pointed out that information “on the extent to which the use of this drug is resulting in public health problems is scarce”.

Current estimates suggest there are probably between 1.2 and 2.1 million problem drug users in the EU, of whom 850,000 to 1.3 million are likely to be recent injectors.

The report said Malta was establishing procedures for drafting and adopting a national drug strategy.

In several EU countries, spending on supply reduction continued to account for the bulk of public expenditure amounting to an estimated 68 to 75 per cent of the total drug-related expenditure.

However, in several countries, including Malta, expenditure on demand reduction was apparently higher than expenditure on supply reduction amounting to 66 per cent.

However, the report added, the lack of available information regarding direct public expenditure on the drug issue continues to be a problem.

Prevention is the main factor that can influence and change the “erroneous perception of drug use as normal and socially acceptable among the peer population”.

“In fact, a lifetime prevalence of cannabis use among young adults of 30 per cent means that more than two-thirds of the population have never used cannabis,” it said.

At least 14 countries reported prevalence rates of recent use of between three per cent and seven per cent.

According to the report, EU member States can be categorised into three distinct groups as regards trends in the recreational and occasional use of cannabis.

In the first group (which includes Ireland and the United Kingdom), lifetime prevalence is high (around 38–39 per cent) but has remained stable over the past eight years.

These countries have long histories of cannabis use and high prevalence rates of cannabis use developed during the 1980s and 1990s.

In the second group of countries, lifetime prevalence of cannabis use among school students has increased by 26 per cent. This group comprises all the new eastern European member States along with Denmark, Spain, France, Italy and Portugal.

Malta falls into the third group where estimates of lifetime prevalence among school students have remained at relatively low levels, at around 10 per cent and below.

This group includes member States from both the north and south of Europe including Finland, Sweden, Norway, Greece and Cyprus.

Just over half (60 per cent) of the total requests made for treatment were for opiate treatment.

In many countries, opiates (largely heroin) remain the principal drug for which clients seek treatment, but relevant differences are found between countries.

In Malta, over 70 per cent of substance abusers seek treatment for heroin addiction. Greece, France, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Slovenia, United Kingdom, Bulgaria are also in this category.

Between 50 and 70 per cent of substance abusers from countries such as Denmark, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Cyprus, Latvia, Slovakia, Romania seek treatment from heroin addiction.

However, less than 40 per cent of addicts are following methadone substitution treatment in Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland and Sweden.

According to the report, most opiate clients said they used opiates for the first time between the ages of 15 and 24, with around 50 per cent of them using the drug when they were younger than 20.

At least 29 per cent of Maltese clients seeking treatment use opiates with cocaine as a secondary drug, the report said.

In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, almost half the clients use opiates together with stimulants other than cocaine; while in Greece 18 per cent use opiates with cocaine as a secondary drug.

In Finland, 37 per cent of opiate users report the use of hypnotics and sedatives as secondary drugs.

According to the report, brown heroin at street level in Malta was 40 per cent pure in 2003.

In most of the member States, cannabis is still the illicit drug most often involved in reported drug law offences.

Cannabis-related offences in 2003 accounted for 39 per cent in Italy and 87 per cent in France of all drug law offences.

In The Netherlands, the large majority of the offences (58 per cent) involved hard drugs, whereas in the Czech Republic the majority of drug law offences (48 per cent) were related to amphetamines

It noted that since 1998, the proportion of drug offences involving cannabis has been on the increase in Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta and Portugal, but has remained stable overall in Belgium, the Czech Republic, The Netherlands.