The European drug market appears to be experiencing a “surge” in the availability of high-purity cocaine, according to the EU drugs agency.

The EU is moving to ban an extremely powerful new synthetic cannabis drug which has been linked to 29 deaths across Europe.

European drug experts report a “dramatic increase” in the potency of high-strength ecstasy tablets, including so-called ‘super pills’.

A confidential report on Ireland’s drugs strategy has recommended a “shift” away from criminalising people for possession of drugs for personal use.

Usage of cannabis among adolescents is higher in countries that have liberalised drug laws, according to a study.

European police and drug agencies are concerned at an “unprecedented increase” in the size of heroin seizures — with a number of countries recording record hauls.

Europe’s leading drugs agency has warned about the danger of a psychoactive substance which has already been linked to at least four deaths in Ireland.

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The purity and potency of all the main illegal drugs is increasing in Europe, posing heightened dangers to users, drug experts have warned.

Health and policing agencies are grappling with “an unprecedented increase” in the number of new synthetic drugs across Europe.

Ireland experiences one of highest level of spending cuts in EU

Ecstasy users are facing increased threats from tablets which, in the main, are purer and stronger but, in an unknown number of cases, are contaminated with toxic amphetamine chemicals.

A record number of new synthetic drugs are being detected in Europe — but stretched agencies are unable to keep up with the dizzying array of substances because of budget cuts.

TO one seasoned community worker, who is far from a scaremonger, the cannabis now is not cannabis as previous generations know it.

Health experts fear dealers will use the summer music festivals to supply a new hallucinogenic chemical to unsuspecting drug users.

Two young mothers in Co Louth were out of danger last night after consuming cannabis, initially thought to have been contaminated.

Europe is being bombarded with a “relentless supply” of new synthetic drugs, posing unknown risks to users, the European drugs agency has warned.

Ireland remains among the biggest users of cocaine in Europe, a new report confirms.

Ireland is one of the top countries in Europe for cocaine use, a new report shows.

The EU drugs agency has published a report backing the controversial provision of heroin to chronic addicts.

IRELAND has the second highest number of drug-related deaths in the European Union, according to a report.

EUROPE’S “cocaine bubble” appears to have burst — but the online sale of so-called legal highs is growing at an “unprecedented speed”.

Ireland has the highest documented use of heroin use in the EU, new figures show.

HEAD shop products will continue to change at an “unprecedented speed” in order to circumvent legal controls, the EU’s drugs agency has said.

THE European Union’s drug and police agencies have launched a joint investigation into amphetamine-type ‘legal highs’ on sale in head shops and over the internet.

GARDAÍ seized a total of 300,000 BZP tablets in 2009, at a time when the overall illegal drug market contracted sharply.

EUROPE is not winning the battle against drug trafficking because each of the 27 member states is fighting the narcotics trade on its own, according to the European Commission’s top drug adviser.

IRELAND imposes the longest prison sentences for drugs offences in Europe, according to the EU drugs agency.

IRELAND is the third largest seller of “designer drugs” over the internet in Europe, according to the EU drugs agency.

IRELAND has the fifth highest mortality rate from drugs in Europe, the EU drugs agency has said.

South American drug cartels see this country as a vulnerable entry point, writes Cormac O’Keeffe.

THE glut of heroin on the global market is threatening Ireland and Europe with a new heroin crisis, the European Union drugs agency has warned.

THE EU drugs agency has expressed concern at the spread of home-grown herbal cannabis across Europe.

The seizure of 1.5 tonnes of cocaine off the south-west coast in the early hours of yesterday morning was the largest drugs shipment ever intercepted by Irish authorities.

IRELAND has the fourth highest use of cocaine in the EU, according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) report.

YESTERDAY’S record €750 million seizure of cocaine brought the value of the drug netted off the west Cork coast to far in excess of €1 billion in just the last 18 months.

IRELAND will have to ban a party drug legally on sale here following an EU decision yesterday.

CUSTOMS and gardaí admit that record seizures of heroin and cocaine do not seem to be making much of an impact on the availability of drugs on the street.

HEROIN and cocaine use is dominating the Irish drugs market, while ecstasy and cannabis availability appears to have dropped significantly, according to new figures.

IRELAND is the only country in Europe where schoolgirls have overtaken schoolboys in cannabis consumption.

IRELAND is near the top of the European drug table for cocaine use, according to an EU report, but we are lower down the table for ecstasy use and in the bottom half of the table for cannabis use.