Wastewater analysis and Drugs - A European multi-city study"

The study "Wastewater analysis and Drugs - A European multi-city study", published by the European group SCORE in collaboration with the EUDA (European Union Agency on Drugs), was released on 19 March. Portugal is one of the countries with cities where the highest loads of MDMA and masses of the cannabis metabolite THC-COOH were found.

In Portugal, Lisbon, Porto and Almada were the cities whose wastewater was analysed. The Portuguese capital is one of the European cities with the highest average consumption of ecstasy per day, having also increased in Porto and Almada compared to 2023. Decreases in cocaine consumption were detected in these three cities, with Porto and Almada having higher concentrations at weekends, and Lisbon during the week.

This study analysed wastewater from 128 European cities in 26 countries, 24 in the European Union, plus Turkey and Norway, to find out about the drug use behaviour of their inhabitants. The results provide a valuable snapshot of the flow of drugs through the cities involved, revealing marked geographical variations.

See the study at https://www.euda.europa.eu/