By DPA
Brussels : A record high 4.5 million Europeans are likely to have used cocaine this year, making it the continent’s second most commonly used illicit drug after cannabis, according to a report published in Brussels Thursday.
Once confined to the most affluent fringes of society, cocaine has now become a much more popular drug, overtaking ecstasy and amphetamines in the number one choice of drugs after cannabis.
The 2007 annual report on drug use by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) estimates that cannabis and heroin use in Europe may be stabilizing after posting steady increases during the 1980s and 1990s.
Previous cocaine estimates suggested a figure of 3.5 million users.
Overall, around 12 million Europeans say that they have tried cocaine at some stage, while cocaine seizures have risen by 45 percent to 107 tonnes between 2004 and 2005.
The spread of cocaine is reflected on public health data. In 2005, 33,027 people required cocaine-related treatment in Europe, compared with 12,633 in 1999.
Cocaine is particularly popular in Britain, Spain and the Netherlands, but its use is also on the rise in Italy and Denmark.
Cannabis remains by far the most popular drug in Europe.
Around 70 million people, or nearly a quarter of all adults in the EU, say they have tried cannabis at some stage in their lives while 23 million of them say they have used it in the last year.
Around three million, or one percent of all European adults, say they use cannabis on a daily basis.
Overall, between 7,000 and 8,000 drug-related deaths were reported in the EU and Norway in 2005.