COST OF DRUGS FALLS DESPITE RECORD SEIZURES

DRUGS are cheaper than ever across Europe, including Ireland, according
to an EU report.

The drop in prices is despite the fact that greater quantities of
drugs, particularly cocaine and heroin, are being seized by police and
customs officials.

The prices of cannabis, cocaine and amphetamines have dropped in real
terms by around 20%, on average across Europe, while the prices of
heroin and ecstasy have dropped by almost 50%.

That's according to a five-year analysis of the period 1999 to 2004 by
the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA),
the first study of its type.

Launching its 2006 annual report yesterday, the Lisbon-based agency
said Ireland was towards the top end of the European table for cocaine
use, but below average for cannabis use.

The EMCDDA chairman Marcel Reimen said they were concerned about drugs
becoming cheaper and said it could result in higher levels of
consumption by users, with negative health consequences.

Commenting on the report, the head of the European Commission (EC)
anti-drug policy coordination unit said the figures showed seizures
were not having an impact on price and supply.

"What this seems to suggest is that a lot more drugs are in the system
than we estimated," said Carel Edwards. "If increased seizures are not
having an effect on prices, indeed prices have come down, whatever we
are seizing is not hitting the market." He said the international 'war
of drugs' was not working.

"We should reflect on the last 50 years of a moral international
crusade to reduce the drug problem in the world -- the results are not
exactly brilliant." He said the EU did not adopt a 'war on drugs' approach.

He said recent estimates suggested that 80% of drug supplies would
have to be intercepted to seriously disrupt supply, and that current
EU estimates suggested around 20% of supplies were being caught.

Garda figures indicate around 100 kilos of heroin have been seized so
far this year, three times the total for 2005. The EMCDDA reports a
continuing rise in the global production of cocaine and a sharp rise
in opium cultivation in Afghanistan.