'20 people a year die of overdoses'

CYPRUS HAS lost 83 people as a result of drug use between 2004 and
2008, it was announced yesterday at a special event to mark the
International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

The Drugs Squad and Cyprus Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug
Addiction held a joint press conference to highlight the problems
facing the island regarding the battle against drug use and
trafficking.

Drugs Squad Commander Philipos Vrontos highlighted that the quantity
of illegal substances confiscated has increased worryingly in recent
years, while the number of prosecutions has decreased. This was mainly
as a result of the difficulties in securing incriminating evidence to
use in court.

According to research conducted by the Monitoring Centre in 2006,
Cyprus has one of the lowest numbers of drug users. However, if we
were to compare the number of drug users in the last 30 days,
particularly those using cocaine and ecstasy, Cyprus would pass the EU
average, said one Centre representative.

The presence of intravenous drug users on the island is also well
documented based on the large number of people who have sought help
with detoxification, they added.

According to the European Commission, around 12 million people in the
EU use cocaine or have done so at some point in the past. On average,
an EU citizen dies every hour from a drug overdose, while around 7,000
to 8,000 drug deaths are recorded annually in the EU-bloc.