Ecstasy use on rise as new generation discovers drug

ECSTASY use is increasing across the UK and Europe as a new generation of young people discover the drug, and dealers aggressively market new, purer pills.

A survey by the EU’s drugs monitoring agency suggests 2.1 million people aged 15-34 used the drug, also known as MDMA, in the last year in Europe, up 300,000 from the year before.

In England and Wales, the proportion of 16- to 24-year-olds reporting Ecstasy use in the last year jumped from 3.9 per cent in 2013-14 to 5.4 per cent in 2014-15.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction suggested dealers were actively pushing stronger Ecstasy after use had tailed off because of poor quality and adulterated MDMA. Use of the drug, which came to prominence during the rave scene of the late Eighties, had been falling in Europe since the beginning of last decade.

The centre’s annual European Drug Report also found that London remains the European capital of cocaine use.

Analysis showed the average daily concentration of cocaine in London’s wastewater was 909mg per 1,000 people last year – up from 737mg in 2014.

The next closest level was 642mg in Amsterdam. When weekend samples only are taken into account, the concentration for London rises to 1,044mg, according to the figures.

The Europe-wide study analysed wastewater in more than 60 European cities and towns to gain an insight into drug use.

Cocaine is the most commonly used illicit stimulant drug in Europe, with an estimated 2.4 million young adults between 15 and 34 having taken the drug in the last year.