European Drugs Trend Monitor Issue 2 – GI TOC

This is the second issue of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime’s (GI-TOC) European Drug Trends Monitor, an output of our Observatory of Organized Crime in Europe.

This series of bulletins tracks developments in European drug markets to provide an analysis of trends in availability, pricing and criminal dynamics across 12 major cities. European drug markets are undergoing considerable changes, triggered by the confluence of several major trends in supply and demand. These include an oversupply of cocaine, a growing crack epidemic, significant shifts in the production of opium in Afghanistan, the gradual emergence of synthetic opioids, the partial legalization of cannabis in some countries and the rise of synthetic stimulants such as synthetic cathinones, especially against the backdrop of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

At the same time, we seek to document the growing illicit market of diverted or falsified prescription drugs, such as painkillers, tranquillizers and anaesthetics. As drug markets rapidly transform, with consequences for public health, criminal dynamics and related violence, the European Drug Trends Monitor seeks to provide up-to-date analysis to inform public debate and supplement data from governments and international organizations. Trends are being monitored in Antwerp, Barcelona, Bucharest, Eindhoven, Hamburg, Istanbul, Kyiv, London, Marseille, Milan, Prague and Stockholm. In each city, information is gathered on drug availability, retail and wholesale prices, and criminal dynamics in trafficking activities.