Infographic: cocaine samples tested by drug checking services between January and June 2019

Description

From the European Drug Report 2020: Trends and Developments. Exract (p. 21)

FIn the period January-June 2019 cocaine was the substance most frequently submitted to European drug checking services for testing. In total, 1011 samples presented as cocaine were analysed and reported by 11 services operating in eight EU Member States. More than half (57 %) of all samples presented as cocaine contained only cocaine and inactive compounds (e.g. milk powder). In 4 % of the samples, cocaine was not detected. The remaining 40 % of samples contained a combination of cocaine and one or more pharmacologically active adulterants, with levamisole the most common, found in 184 samples, followed by caffeine (146 samples). Data on cocaine purity were available for 852 cocaine samples from seven drug checking services operating in six EU Member States. The average purity of cocaine samples was 69 % (73 % during the same period in 2018), with one in every two samples containing more than 75 % cocaine. According to information provided by the clients, about two thirds (65 %) of the samples presented as cocaine were obtained through direct contact with a known supplier.