Lisbon, Porto and Almada with high traces of drug use in sewage

Lisbon, Porto and Almada have some of the highest trace levels of cocaine, MDMA, ketamine and cannabis found in sewage, according to a study by the European Observatory on Drugs and Addiction published this Wednesday.

A study dating back to 2021 and 2022, which analyzed wastewater from 104 cities in 20 European Union member states and Turkey, found worldwide “an increase in detections of cocaine and methamphetamine” and describes how the analysis of water from wastewater treatment plants waters (WWR) manages to provide “a growing picture of the dynamics of drug use and availability”.

Wastewater analysis by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Addiction (EMCDDA) shows that Portugal along with Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain is one of the main cocaine users among cities in Western Europe and has been studied, but the document considers it “important” that all six investigational drugs (cocaine, methamphetamine, amphetamine, MDMA, ketamine and cannabis) were detected in nearly all participating cities.

With regard to cocaine, Lisbon and Almada recorded an increase in use, while Porto stabilized in 2021, while globally published results indicate a continuous increase in detection of this drug, and this trend is becoming apparent. observed since the start of this type of study in 2016, “despite some fluctuations during the lockdown associated with covid-19”.

The methamphetamine situation “seems to be evolving” with traces being found in more cities, with Lisbon being one of those that recorded an increase from 2021 last year, with no traces of the substance being reported in Porto as it is told reporters. agency Lusa Analyst EMCDDA Joao Pedro Matias.

This drug, traditionally concentrated in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, is now also present in Belgium, East Germany, Spain, Cyprus and Turkey, as well as several Nordic countries (such as Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Norway). Of the 60 cities with data available for 2021 and 2022, almost two-thirds (39) reported an increase in waste, 15 of them a decrease, and another six reported a stable situation.

Lisbon and Almada also see an increase in MDMA/Ecstasy use, while Porto is similar to 2021.

The trend in MDMA/ecstasy use is “less clear” globally, with 62 cities with data available for 2021 and 2022, 28 reported an increase in MDMA detections (mostly in south and central) and seven were stable. The highest MDMA residues have been found in cities in Belgium, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.

In terms of cannabis, the most consumed drug in the entire European Union, the three Portuguese cities observed saw a “slight increase” in consumption compared to 2021, but Portugal is in the group of cities in Western and Southern Europe, along with the Czech Republic, Spain and the Netherlands, where the highest loads of this drug’s metabolites (THC-COOH) have been reported.

However, consumption of the substance saw mixed trends in 2022, with 18 out of 36 cities reporting a decline since 2021, 15 an increase, and five a stable situation.

The report also reported “greater availability and use” of ketamine, a drug that was first included in the analysis last year, with the highest loads found in wastewater from cities in Denmark, Italy, Spain and Portugal (Lisbon).

Ketamine, or ketamine, is a powerful tranquilizer primarily used in veterinary medicine that has a psychedelic/dissociative effect when used by humans.

For amphetamines, levels of amphetamine residues varied between cities, with the highest loads occurring in northern European cities (Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden) and much lower levels in southern cities. Portugal does not show significant values.

Of the 55 cities that reported methamphetamine residue data for 2021 and 2022, “the picture was mixed” with 20 reporting an increase, 26 a decrease, and nine a stable situation.

The study, which analyzed the wastewater of 54 million people, found large differences between cities in the same country, which, according to the Lisbon Observatory on Drugs, can be explained by their different geographical, social and demographic characteristics (age distribution, presence of universities and the presence of nightlife, among others).