To monitor new drug trends in Europe and complement the information gained through focus group discussions, C-EHRN’s 2023 Civil Society-led Monitoring of Harm Reduction in Europe includes two reports via the Trans European Drug Information Network (TEDI), drawing from data collected from drug checking services.

The snapshot report contains information from the first two quarters of 2023 for each drug where significant drug checking data exists in Europe. These are amphetamine, cocaine, ketamine, MDMA, methamphetamine, heroin, and general pages for benzodiazepine sedatives, novel stimulants and novel opioids. The multi-year report contains data since 2018 and aims to show the changes in drug markets over time.

Download the snapshot report and the multi-year report and read the interview with Guy Jones, TEDI’s data manager and the primary author below!

Alongside this, there is major concern about the potential for changes in the heroin supply from Afghanistan and whether this could lead to a move to synthetic opioids as was seen in North America over the last decade.

Would you highlight any differences in drug preferences in the past year between European countries based on the findings?

Not really. Europe has a fairly consistent supply throughout the continent, however, there are consumption patterns that exist more in certain countries, such as a slightly higher prevalence of amphetamine in Eastern Europe.

Based on the data you analysed, what are the most significant changes in the drug markets over time?

When I first started working in the field, I never expected that we would find ourselves in a position where the major threat in the cocaine supply was because it was so strong and unadulterated.

How do you think harm reduction organisations can use the reports?

The reports are often extremely interesting to service users and they can serve as an invaluable starting point for discussions about risk from adulteration but also about the role that tolerance plays in a service user’s experience of a drug.

How do you think data from drug-checking services can be combined with other kinds of research, such as the data from insights from focus group discussions conducted as part of C-EHRN’s 2023 Civil Society-led Monitoring of Harm Reduction in Europe?

Data is extremely useful for “calibrating” qualitative observations to help us understand whether they are accurate reflections of reality and tuning how we collect qualitative data to get more accurate information, faster.

Would you pick a graph that you find significant and explain why you find it relevant?

Not a chart, but a number from the snapshot report. The median heroin sample contains just 17% purity, with huge variation. This variation already creates a risk for people who use heroin but it also means that organised groups wouldn’t have much to do to create a product that is much stronger and substitutes heroin for synthetic opioids. Experience shows us that law enforcement won’t reduce the health risk from this.

Following a new format, Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network’s Civil Society-led Monitoring of Harm Reduction in Europe 2023 Data Report is launched in 6 volumes: Hepatitis C Care, Essential Harm Reduction Services, New Drug Trends, Mental Health of Harm Reduction Staff, TEDI Reports and City Reports (Warsaw, Bălţi, Esch-sur-Alzette, London, Amsterdam). The Executive Summary can be accessed here.