European Union Drugs Agency - EUDA

🌍 Today, we mark World Refugee Day.

Millions of people worldwide are forced to flee conflict, violence or persecution. Protecting their fundamental rights remains a shared responsibility.

Across the EU Justice and Home Affairs Agencies’ Network, we work within our respective mandates to support people in vulnerable situations.

Working together across sectors and borders helps ensure that Europe remains grounded in justice, respect for human dignity and the rule of law.
On , we reaffirm our shared commitment to these principles.

How to measure environmental impacts across co***ne-related activities?

From deforestation to air, water and soil contamination and biodiversity loss, the consequences extend across regions and ecosystems.

Together with DEVIDA PERÚ, Peru’s National Commission for Development and Life without Drugs, we are launching a first international targeted policy analysis, exploring how these environmental impacts can be better understood and measured.

What this work covers:

🔸 An overview of environmental impacts associated with co***ne-related activities
🔸 Mapping of current monitoring practices
🔸 Tools, indicators and methodological approaches to support monitoring efforts

📌 By bringing together fragmented evidence and drawing on international expertise and cooperation, this work outlines different ways of thinking about how co***ne-related environmental impacts can be measured.

📖 Explore the report: https://euda.europa.eu/publications/joint-publications/co***ne-and-environment-building-foundations-measurement_en

⚠️ Ketamine is no longer a niche substance in some parts of Europe’s drug market. In certain recreational settings, it is becoming more established, raising concerns about its growing use outpacing awareness of the risks.

While overall use remains relatively low, harms are becoming more visible. Treatment entries have quadrupled, rising from 413 cases in 2019 to 1 796 in 2024.

Frequent users should be aware of the risks and seek medical help if experiencing symptoms.

🔎 As the market evolves, strengthening monitoring, early detection and prevention remains key.

📘 Explore the findings on ketamine in the European Drug Report 2026: https://www.euda.europa.eu/publications/european-drug-report/2026/other-drugs_en

Missed our webinar on drug market-related violence? The recording is available now. Experts discussed how this phenomenon is defined, measured and monitored — and what consistent frameworks mean for effective policy responses across Europe.

🎥 Watch now: euda.europa.eu/media-library/euda-webinar-conceptualising-drug-market-related-violence_en

📊 2025: a year of acceleration

Throughout last year, we strengthened Europe’s preparedness on drugs by developing new services, deepening partnerships and delivering timely evidence, analysis and support to policymakers and professionals.

This is captured in our Consolidated Annual Activity Report 2025, which describes our key achievements, governance activities and organisational developments during the first full year under our expanded mandate. Highlights include:

🔹 Launch of the European Drug Alert System (EDAS) and first pilot under the EUDA Threat Assessment System (ETAS)
🔹 35 publications and 24 scientific articles supporting policy and practice
🔹 Around 1 200 professionals reached through training and webinars
🔹 New frameworks to strengthen cooperation, including the EUDA International Cooperation Framework and the Reitox Alliance Operating Framework
🔹 Rollout of the EUDA Communication Strategy 2025–2028 and expanded digital outreach
🔹 Foresight scenarios exploring drugs and addiction in Europe by 2040
🔹 A new leadership chapter with Dr Lorraine Nolan appointed as EUDA Executive Director

📖 Explore the full picture in our Consolidated Annual Activity Report 2025:
euda.europa.eu/publications/caar/2025_en

🧭 Get the key highlights:
euda.europa.eu/publications/annual-activities/2025/snapshot_en

How do criminal networks recruit young people into drug markets and how can this be prevented?

The recruitment of vulnerable young people is one of the mechanisms sustaining drug market-related violence across Europe. It connects social vulnerability, local dynamics and organised crime in ways that are often difficult to detect and disrupt.

In a new EUDA technical report, Dr Eoin O’Meara Daly (University of Limerick) brings together international evidence on how recruitment happens and what responses are most effective. The analysis highlights the role of peer influence, socioeconomic conditions and digital environments, but also shows where interventions can make a difference.

The report identifies a range of promising intervention approaches, from targeted disruption of criminal networks to family and school-based support and community mobilisation, and points to key lessons for implementation.

As highlighted in discussions this week in Lisbon and Brussels, effective responses to drug market-related violence depend on understanding the underlying dynamics that sustain it, including how criminal networks recruit vulnerable young people.

👉 Read the report:
https://www.euda.europa.eu/publications/technical-reports/addressing-recruitment-young-people-criminal-drugs-networks_en

🌐 Explore our work on drug market-related violence:
https://www.euda.europa.eu/activities/drug-related-violence_en

Co***ne use remains high across Europe, with around 4.3 million adults reporting use in the last year.

Co***ne-related harms are a cause for concern, with rising treatment demand, crack co***ne problems in some cities and signs of increasing pressure on health services.

At the same time, trafficking routes and methods are diversifying to avoid detection, with smaller and more fragmented consignments, sophisticated concealment techniques and use of at-sea transfers.

Illicit processing of co***ne products continues to take place inside Europe.

📘 Explore the latest findings on co***ne in the European Drug Report 2026: https://www.euda.europa.eu/publications/european-drug-report/2026/co***ne_en

🏙️ Cities are ready to act. Today, they are making it official.

In Brussels, elected representatives from cities including Brussels, Fort-de-France, Liège and Lisbon, together with experts and practitioners from across Europe, are gathering for the Cities & Drugs conference, organised by the European Forum for Urban Security and supported by the EUDA.

The focus is on how cities balance security, health and social cohesion in addressing drug-related challenges, and how cooperation can strengthen responses.

🤝 A key moment today is the signing of the Coalition of the Willing against Drug-Related Violence and Trafficking, a joint commitment by cities and regions to strengthen cooperation and develop more effective responses at local, national and European level.

👉 Learn more about the Coalition: https://efus.eu/coalition-of-the-willing-against-drug-related-violence-and-trafficking/

At this event, the EUDA contributes a European perspective and evidence to the discussions. Our experts are taking part in key sessions:
🔵 Pedro Assares on the role of elected officials in drug-related challenges
🟢 Liesbeth Vandam on how to support informed and non-polarised debates on drugs

👉 Learn more about our work on drug market-related violence:
https://www.euda.europa.eu/topics/drug-market-related-violence_en

🌍 In Warsaw this week, the focus was on how European countries can strengthen early warning and alert systems for emerging serious drug threats.

We hosted a Regional Reitox Academy on the European Drug Alert System (EDAS), bringing together national experts from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland and Poland.

Participants worked on how EDAS fits into national systems, from detecting early signals to managing risks and communicating alerts. The exchange also shone a light on practical challenges and lessons learned across countries.

This type of work is central to the Reitox network, connecting national expertise with EU-level systems to improve preparedness and coordinated responses.

The event was hosted with the support of our Polish national focal point, helping to strengthen cooperation and hands-on exchange across the region.

👉 Explore how EDAS supports early warning and response in Europe: https://www.euda.europa.eu/activities/european-drug-alert-system-edas_en

👉 See how the Reitox network connects countries and expertise: https://www.euda.europa.eu/publications/work-programmes-and-strategies/reitox-alliance-operating-framework_en

🤝 Krajowe Centrum Przeciwdziałania Uzależnieniom KCPU

How do you measure something that is not consistently defined, and why does that matter for how Europe responds to drug market-related violence?

This week in Lisbon, we are bringing together researchers, law enforcement experts and policymakers for a technical meeting on drug market-related violence — examining the issue from framework to field, and from data gaps to concrete responses.

On the agenda:
🔶 Conceptual framework and challenges in measuring drug market-related violence, including data gaps and indicators
🔶 City-level dynamics, community impacts and local responses
🔶 Recruitment into drug markets and related violence, including the role of young people and online environments
🔶 Moving from analysis to action, with a focus on prevention and judicial responses

The session closes with the question the whole field is grappling with: what does it take to move from analysis to action?

This meeting is part of our approach and takes place under the EU Drugs Agency presidency of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Agencies' Network ( ). By connecting health, security and policy perspectives, we aim to anticipate risks earlier and support more effective responses where they are most needed.

👉 See what's ahead under our JHAAN presidency: https://www.euda.europa.eu/activities/jha_en

🌐 Explore our work on drug market-related violence: https://www.euda.europa.eu/activities/drug-related-violence_en