There is a concern about methamphetamine use in Europe.
Methamphetamine fatalities have recently occurred in Southern European
countries. The aim of this study is to examine Norwegian methamphetamine trends
in recent years, comparing different data sources.
Data about amphetamines were collected from five different
sources; blood samples from drivers suspected of driving under the influence of
drugs and apprehended by the police (during the years 2000-2012), urine samples
from inmates in Norwegian prisons (during 2000-2012), post-mortem blood samples
from medico-legal autopsies (2000-2012), drug seizures (1994-2012) and
wastewater samples from a metropolitan/suburban population (2010-2012).
The number of cases where methamphetamine was detected has
increased during the period studied for the driving under the influence cases,
the samples from inmates and from forensic autopsies. The increase seems to be
linear up to 2009-2010, with a subsequent stabilisation or even a decline in
the market share of methamphetamine for the next few years. The number of
methamphetamine seizures has risen from less than 1% in 2000 to approximately
66% in 2009, and a steady share around 60% have been seen between 2010 and
2012. Wastewater samples showed that the share of methamphetamine peaked in
2010-11, before falling.
It is difficult to obtain reliable data on illicit drugs.
Data from different populations might give indications of changes and trends,
but are always prone to different biases. By comparing results from different
data sources, a better knowledge of the illicit drug market might be obtained.
All our data sources confirmed that methamphetamine became a more prevalent
drug during the first decade of the new millennium in Norway, but since
approximately 2009 the share of methamphetamine stabilised.
Below: Percentage of methamphetamine in the cases where amphetamines have been found
Full article at: http://goo.gl/fBv5yn
By:
- 1Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research (SERAF), University of Oslo, Norway; Department of Pharmacoepidemiology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Oslo, Norway; Centre for Psychopharmacology, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: j.g.bramness@medisin.uio.no.
- 2Norwegian Institute of Water Research (NIVA), Oslo, Norway.
- 3National Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS), Oslo, Norway.
- 4Division of Forensic Medicine and Drug Abuse Research, Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Oslo, Norway.
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