Spain reports highest cocaine consumption in EU

Spain is the largest cocaine consumer in the European Union (EU), a report by the European drug monitoring authority showed on Thursday.

While marijuana consumption slightly fell among the Spaniards, cocaine consumption has spread in the country.

Over the past year, 3.1 percent of the Spaniards admitted having consumed cocaine, while 1.1 percent said they did it in the past month, according to the report presented by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

During the last four of five years, Spain's cocaine consumption has stabilized after registering a large increase in the years before. But "this is small progress, there is still much to do," the report said.

In addition, 10.1 percent of the Spaniards aged between 15 and 64 years admitted having consumed marijuana in the past year, compared with the 11.2 percent a year before, while 7.1 percent said they had used it in the past month compared with 8.7 percent a year earlier.

Wolfgang Goetz, director of the drug monitoring body, said that cocaine’s easy availability in the European market was one of the reasons for its spread.

Source: Xinhua