Nicosia, Cyprus. Cocaine played a part in the majority of deaths caused by drug overdoses in Cyprus in 2024, according to the European Union drugs agency’s latest annual European drug report released on Tuesday. The report also highlighted concerns related to HIV risks linked to injecting drug use and high-risk methamphetamine use on the island.
Overdose patterns across the EU
The report found that cocaine was involved in the majority of overdose deaths in three other EU member states: Luxembourg, Malta and Portugal. In no fewer than 20 other member states, statistics showed that opioids were involved in the plurality of overdose deaths.
HIV risks and needle sharing
Cyprus was also mentioned in the report’s section on the potential for HIV outbreaks caused by the sharing of needles and increased use of stimulants. The report said the number of diagnoses of HIV linked to injecting drug use across the EU declined to 822 in 2023.
However, the diagnosis rate of 1.83 per million people remains almost twice as high as the joint United Nations programme on HIV and Aids’ target of 0.9 per million.
The report said one “essential element” of efforts to reduce this figure is the provision of “sterile injecting equipment” to people using injecting drugs, to help prevent accidental HIV infection.
“Nonetheless, levels of needle and syringe provision are inadequate in relation to estimated needs in several EU member states, including Bulgaria, Cyprus, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia,” it said.
Methamphetamine use in Cyprus
Later, the report also referred to “high-risk use of methamphetamine” in Cyprus, with 38,200 people on the island classified as “high-risk” users of the drug.
Wider European concerns
Overall, the European Commission said the report found that “drugs have an increasingly negative impact on European health and security as they have become more available, more diverse and more potent”.
“Illicit drugs, including cocaine and synthetic drugs as well as new psychoactive substances, are widely available. New cannabis products continue to appear, while the variety of opioids and stimulants sold is on the rise,” it added.
The Commission also warned that “drug trafficking constitutes a major threat to the security in Europe”, and that “organised crime networks are diversifying their trafficking routes and methods to evade detections, following intensified policing operations at major European ports”.
