Increase in the use of psychotropic substances, but also the combination of depressant and stimulant substances, the so-called “speedball”, mainly by young users show the research data on the evolution of drug use and deaths recorded in recent years in Northern Greece.

However, the forensic investigation focused on traffic accidents in the last two years revealed a “rapid increase in the use of cocaine” as characteristically reported to APE-MPE by the medical examiner Angeliki Zagelidou, pointing out that “the increase in the use of cocaine came after the confinement caused by the Covid pandemic 19.

Reducing drug deaths in 2022

Especially for the number of deaths from narcotic substances, in the last three years it is said to show relative stability as, according to Ms. Zagelidou, in 2020 in the prefecture of Thessaloniki, toxicological tests revealed ninety deaths from narcotic substances, while in 2021 there were one hundred and the 2022 was sixty. According to data from OKANA and based on data from the Annual Report on the State of the Drug and Alcohol Problem in Greece, of the National Center for Documentation and Information on Drugs (EKTEPN, 2022), the estimated number of people who use opioids , is lower compared to the number of people who used in the past. Despite all this, opioids are still the predominant substance used in our country. OKANA experts have respectively observed a decrease in the use of heroin and other opiates and an increase in the use of stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine. The use of poor quality crystal methamphetamine or shisha, as the users themselves call the substance, is a new… rising substance that currently appears mainly in Athens and less so in Thessaloniki.

The processing of the data shows that the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace is the region of Northern Greece with the fewest deaths from drug use. According to the data provided to APE-MPE by the Forensic Service of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, the cases of deaths from narcotic substances that she has been arrested in the previous five years is a total of 24. Five deaths in 2017, three deaths in 2018, four in 2019, three in 2020, seven in 2021 and two last year, in 2022.

“Comparing the number of deaths in the period 2017-2022 with previous years (prior to 2017) there is no significant fluctuation, as this number varies between 3-5 deaths per year. The only year in which a significant increase was observed is 2021 (7 deaths), but this could perhaps be justified as it is a period at the “heart” of the emergency measures to protect public health from the risk of further spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus throughout the territory, with all that this implies. However, this particular analysis is a personal opinion as for further study the opinions of scientists independent of forensic science, sociologists, psychologists, statisticians, even Security officers etc. should be taken into account”, the medical examiner told APE-MPE. head of the Forensic Service of North Macedonia and Thrace, Nikolaos Kifnidis.

“With the aim of immediate and up-to-date detection of substances prevalent in the field, OKANA and our country participated for the first time in the ESCAPE program of the EMCDDA, together with many other European countries. The goal of the program is the collection and analysis of the remains of used syringes collected by streetworkers at gathering points of active users. OKANA participated in the program with the city of Athens and Thessaloniki and collaborated with the Toxicology Laboratory of AUTH. The ESCAPE results showed that cocaine and heroin (speed ball) are mainly injected. Also, there is an increase in the use of cannabis, but also in legal substances such as alcohol, the internet and gambling”, the head of OKANA’s International and Public Relations department, Christina Sirgani, emphasizes to APE-MPE.

According to Ms. Zagelidou, “from the beginning and during the economic crisis that Greece has been through in recent years, there has been a “mild” use and reduction in drug deaths, due to the economic hardship, while a reduction of the order of 10 %-15%, was also observed during the two-year confinement of the population due to the restrictive measures put in place to reduce the spread of Covid-19, a fact that is reportedly being reversed in the last year”. In the last five years, authorities have recorded a stability in sudden deaths from drug use.

Decrease in syringe- increase in inhaled hallucinogens and pills

According to the data from the General Police Directorate of Thessaloniki, in 2019 17 sudden deaths resulting from the use of drugs were recorded, the following year 13, in 2021 also 13, in 2022 also 13 while this year and so far five cases of drug-related deaths have been reported.

In 2019, 24 cases of sudden death from drug use were recorded, while in 2017 only 13. The goal of the Police remains in the primary role of combating illegal drug trafficking, which shows an alarming increase mainly among young people, however what has been observed in recent years years is the decrease in syringe use and the increase in the practice of inhalation and hallucinogenic drugs in pills.

“Based on the Annual Report of the National Center for Documentation and Information on Drugs (EKTEPN, 2022), the data of ELSTAT, but also the data of EL.AS., approximately the deaths from opioids that occur amount to 200-230 throughout the country, a number that varies in the average of the 5 years 2015-2019. Therefore, there is no indication that the problem of overdose deaths in our country has increased. The most important step, however, has been taken and it is none other than the complete expansion of the framework for the administration of naloxone by everyone. Today the antidote to death is available and makes it possible to zero out the loss of human life from overdose. Since the day of the expansion of the naloxone administration framework, more than 120 lives have been saved in OKANA structures and in the field,” said Ms. Sirgani, speaking to APE-MPE.

“An important role was played in this by the creation of the first Supervised Use Area (SAR) in Athens, where in 69 cases a possible overdose was prevented, through close monitoring by the specialized staff of the SAR, while in 56 cases of overdose inhaled naloxone was administered, preventing possible loss life of the beneficiaries due to the use. The need to create a similar space in the city of Thessaloniki is great and OKANA has proceeded to create a Mobile XEX. The treatment options do exist, the issue is that these people can be informed and aware of these options. For this reason, OKANA has provided a basis for direct access and the intensification of streetwork actions, where the beneficiaries are informed daily in the field about the available structures and services of the Organization”, concludes the head of OKANA’s International and Public Relations department.