Over two million young Europeans took ecstasy last year - News - Mixmag
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Over two million young Europeans took ecstasy last year

The European Drug Report cites a rise in purity and marketing techniques as reasons

  • Dave Turner
  • 31 May 2016

"Creative and sometimes aggressive marketing" could be a factor in the rising use of ecstasy, according to EU drug experts.

The European Drug Report 2016 found that 2.1 million people aged 15 to 34 had taken ecstasy in the last year, 300,000 more than was first estimated. It's thought the use of unique logos, such as UPS and Superman, may have played a part in the large number of consumers.

A 157,000 rise in UK users was reported in 2015, with an increase in MDMA purity being cited as the reason. As a result, experts are calling for new safety initiatives.

Alexis Goosdeel of the EU drug agency said: “The revival of MDMA brings with it the need to rethink existing prevention and harm-reduction responses to target and support a new population of users who may be using high-dose products, without fully understanding the risks involved."

Over the last 12 months, Netherlands had the highest amount of ecstasy users (5.5 per cent of young adults), closely followed by the UK (3.5 per cent).

[Via: the Guardian]

Dave Turner is Mixmag's Digital News Editor, follow him on Twitter

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