The European Council has unanimously adopted a new drug strategy to confront a crisis that now claims over 7,600 lives annually and fuels a €31 billion illicit market. The framework, proposed by the European Commission in December 2025, replaces the 2021–2025 strategy and sharpens the focus on security, preparedness, and public health.
According to the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA), more than 83 million European adults have used illicit substances, with 29 million doing so each year. Cannabis remains the most widely consumed drug, with 15.4 million young adults aged 15–34 reporting use in the past year. Cocaine is second, used by 2.5 million young adults, and its residues are now found in 57 percent of monitored European cities.
A Market Under Pressure
The drug trade is becoming more sophisticated. Over five years, at least 1,826 tonnes of illicit drugs were seized at EU seaports. Criminal networks increasingly rely on commercial container shipping through major hubs like Antwerp and Rotterdam, but are shifting to smaller ports to evade detection. Annual cocaine seizures reached 330 tonnes, while the number of individual seizures rose to 97,000. Groups now split shipments into smaller consignments to minimize losses when intercepted.
Europe is also emerging as a production hub. In a single year, authorities dismantled 42 cocaine extraction sites, 110 amphetamine laboratories, and around 4,000 illicit cannabis cultivation sites. Combined with 1.6 million drug-law offences recorded annually, the EUDA describes a market that is resilient, adaptable, and difficult to disrupt.
“There are many reasons for that. It's hard to bring it down to one single factor, because the market really responds to multiple issues, and that is the increasing levels of organised crime, the wider availability of substances; we also see that Europe is increasingly emerging as a production hub,” said Dr Lorraine Nolan, Executive Director of EUDA.
Health Systems Under Strain
Opioids remain the drugs most frequently linked to fatal overdoses, often in combination with other substances. The EUDA warns specifically about synthetic opioids such as nitazenes and orphines, which have been linked to fatal poisonings and emergency hospital admissions across the bloc. These require extreme medical intervention due to the narrow margin between a single dose and a fatal overdose.
Wastewater monitoring indicates rising cocaine consumption in many cities, while crack cocaine is increasing pressure on harm-reduction and treatment services. Treatment programs for ketamine addiction have quadrupled over five years, forcing clinics to adapt rapidly.
“Increases in consumption are putting additional pressure on health services. Treatment providers need to respond to a wider range of substances and often more complex health and social needs,” said the World Federation Against Drugs (WFAG). “When people are supported into recovery, education and employment, it not only supports their own life, but also reduces very much the long-term costs for health care and social services and welfare systems.”
The Five-Pillar Strategy
The new strategy is structured around five pillars. The first focuses on preparedness: faster monitoring and data collection on drug trends, and more coordinated cross-border information sharing. The second targets enforcement, asking major EU ports to form alliances and coordinate more closely in tackling organized crime. It also introduces blanket bans on certain chemicals used to produce synthetic drugs and aims to disrupt trafficking finances.
At the health level, the strategy proposes city-level monitoring, take-home overdose reversal medicines, and increased funding for treatment services aimed at marginalized groups most at risk. Prevention and awareness programmes target drug use and dependence, while individuals with drug disorders can benefit from broader access to treatment, social support, and reintegration programmes.
“The biggest positive shift is the ambition to be proactive, rather than reactive. The strategy takes a more integrated approach across prevention, treatment, power reduction, which also includes environmental and social harm,” WFAG explained.
The strategy also acknowledges the need to adapt to a changing geopolitical landscape. As the EU strengthens its internal security, it must also contend with external pressures, such as those seen in the G7 Summit in Évian, where geopolitics and trade dominated discussions. The drug crisis, however, remains a persistent internal challenge that requires sustained investment and cross-border cooperation.
With the EUDA recording more than 7,600 overdose deaths annually, the stakes are high. The new strategy represents a significant shift from reactive measures to a proactive, integrated approach that seeks to dismantle criminal networks while reducing the health burden on European societies.
