How do purity and price of cocaine affect consumption in Austria?
Background: Based on the key epidemiological indicators of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), there is a well-established monitoring of illicit drugs in Austria based on general population surveys, treatment data and drug related deaths as well as other health consequences. The new mandate of the EMCDDA, which will change its name to European Drugs Agency (EUDA), will place a stronger emphasis on epidemiological indicators as well as supply reduction data (police reports, seizures, etc.) and new data sources such as wastewater analyses and drug checking. The aim of this development is to be able to react more quickly to threats and be prepared for future challenges. The question of this study is how these new indicators and data sources can be included in a cross-indicator analysis in order to describe the trends in cocaine consumption in Austria.
Method: For cocaine a detailed analysis of the established indicators was combined with analyses from police notifications, waste-water analyses, drug checking, seizures and market analyses on price and purity. Trends in all these data sources are presented and, like putting together the pieces of a puzzle, different ways of interpretations concerning differences and similarities are discussed.
Results: In the last decade we saw a rise in consumption rates of cocaine in general population surveys as well as in the waste-water analysis. While prices have fallen, especially in recent years, despite rising inflation, there has been a continuous increase in purity. This can be seen in police data as well as in data from drug checking. Treatment data shows a slow increase of patients with primary drug cocaine. The interplay of all available data provides an overall picture of the development of recent years.
Discussion: Regarding the new perspectives of the mandate of the EUDA - prepardness and threats - this analysis forms the basis for the evaluation of further developments for cocaine in the interplay of prices, purity and consumption. Will the trend of falling prices and rising purity continue? What does this mean for the use of cocaine and its users in the future – will this result in a greater need for treatment? Can the availability of wastewater and drug checking data lead to a faster response to recognizable problems? Are further data sources necessary to recognize possible threats?
