18/03/2022 13:32
Cyprus is among the lowest in the European ranking regarding the use of cocaine, ecstasy and amphetamine in 2021, according to an announcement by the Cyprus Addiction Treatment Authority.
As reported, on Friday 18 March the European Agency EMCDDA is publishing the results of the research conducted in the spring of 2021 by the SCORE network, which this year involved 75 European cities (a total of 90 from around the world), including Nicosia, Limassol, Pafos, Larnaca and the Ayia Napa - Paralimni region, with the results for Cyprus coming from the collaboration between the Cyprus Addiction Treatment Authority and the Nereus International Water Research Centre of the University of Cyprus.
According to CATA, in recent years, monitoring the composition of urban wastewater has become a very useful tool that can provide scientists and society with valuable information, both on the use of various chemicals (pharmaceutical compounds, drugs, etc.) in a community and on the presence of pathogenic organisms (e.g. SARS-CoV-2, polio, etc.). This method is known as wastewater-based epidemiology and it collects samples of wastewater from the inlets of an area`s municipal wastewater treatment plant and analyses them to determine chemical or biological indicators. The findings in these samples are attributed to the residents of the area served by this station.
As noted, Nereus Research Centre has been actively participating for a decade in the European SCORE network, under the auspices of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), providing data on the consumption of illicit drugs in Nicosia and Limassol. Having entered into a Memorandum of Understanding last year with the Cyprus Addiction Treatment Authority, drug measurements are now being carried out on incoming wastewater at treatment plants reflecting drug use in the larger networks of communities served by these plants in Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos, and the Ayia Napa - Paralimnios area, the data of which are also provided to the SCORE network.
The announcement goes on to report that according to the protocol defined by the SCORE network, each year samples of incoming wastewater are collected on a daily basis for one week and the concentration of amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDMA (ecstasy) and benzoylecgonine, which is a biological indicator of cocaine use, is measured. In addition, with the financial support of the AAC, a methodology was developed in 2021 at the laboratories of the Nereus International Water Research Centre to monitor wastewater and the levels of oxycodone, mephedrone, ketamine and its metabolites, as well as heroin and its metabolites (morphine, monoacetylmorphine).
As stated by the principal project researcher, Dr. Magda Psychoudaki, methamphetamine use in Cyprus remains below the average of the participating cities (5 to 20 times lower), but in a higher position than for other drugs, with the highest use in Cyprus in 2021 being found in Paphos and in areas of Nicosia, while Cyprus is at the lowest positions in the European ranking regarding the use of cocaine, ecstasy and amphetamine, with the highest levels of these drugs measured in Cyprus being found in the area of Ayia Napa-Paralimni.