EMCDDA Releases The ‘European Drug Report 2024’

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction has released its annual European Drug Report, in which it determines that cannabis “remains by far the most commonly consumed illicit drug in Europe.”

“National surveys of cannabis use would suggest that, overall, an estimated 8 % of European adults (22.8 million aged 15 to 64) have used cannabis in the last year.” the authors of the report stated.

Currently, Europe is home to multiple countries that have modernized their cannabis policies to permit adults to use cannabis. Malta became the first European nation to do so in 2021, followed by Luxembourg in 2023.

On April 1st, 2024, Germany became the largest country in Europe (and the entire planet) to implement a national recreational cannabis legalization measure. Adults in Germany can now cultivate up to three plants in their private residences and possess a personal amount of cannabis both in their homes and when away from their homes.

Slovenia became the latest European country to see its voters approve an adult-use cannabis legalization measure. Over the weekend, voters in Slovenia approved an adult-use legalization referendum measure in addition to also approving a domestic medical cannabis production measure. Both cannabis consultation referendum measures will now be considered by Slovenia’s lawmakers.

According to the recent report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, “around 1.3 % of adults in the European Union (3.7 million people) are estimated to be daily or almost daily users of cannabis.”

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction report also determined that “of the 51 cities with comparable data, 20 reported an annual increase in the cannabis metabolite THC-COOH in wastewater samples, while 15 reported a decrease.”

The report also determined the following:

• In 2022, EU member nations reported 243,000 seizures of cannabis concentrate amounting to 468 tonnes (816 tonnes in 2021), and 234,000 seizures of floral cannabis amounting to 265 tonnes (256 tonnes in 2021). The overall quantity of cannabis concentrate seized in the European Union decreased by 43% in 2022.
• Approximately 609,000 cannabis use or possession offenses were reported in the European Union in 2022 (566,000 in 2021), in addition to roughly 98,000 supply offenses (100,000 in 2021).
• In 2022, the average THC content of cannabis concentrates in the European Union was 24.8% and cannabis flower was 10.1 %.

According to a recent market analysis, the legal European medical cannabis market is projected to be worth over $9.7 billion by 2028, with the United Kingdom and Germany projected to gain a 77% market share by the end of the forecast period.