The European Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction presented its annual report recently which contains some disturbing findings for Europe as a whole and Luxembourg in particular. In the Grand Duchy, apparently, the greatest current threat comes from a synthetic drug called "Spice" rumoured to contain cannabis, but actually does not, it is sold in some stores as “legally cool”. According to the reports it causes about 80 deaths per million inhabitants in Luxembourg and its consumption continues to rise.

If we look at one of the “flavours” of spice, “Spice Gold” actual ingredients are as follows: Baybean, Blue Lotus, Lion's Tail, Lousewort, Indian Warrior, Dwarf Scullcap, Maconha Brava, Pink Lotus, Marshmallow, Red Clover, Rose, Siberian Motherwort, Vanilla, and Honey.

In contrast, the number of syringes distributed by the State under the substitution treatment available is declining, which may indicate some success of recent policies.

The report also focuses on the social phenomenon of cocaine. In Luxembourg, the treatment of addicts showed that 11% to 13% of them are dependent on the drug.  The European report shows that at least 13 million Europeans, that’s 3.9% of the population,  have used cocaine at least once, and consumption of other hard drugs continues to grow in the EU, a worrying statistic.