Germany is suffering an “alarming” increase in hard drug use, authorities warned Friday, with narcotics more accessible as production in Europe is on the rise.
There has been a “boom” in the use of drugs such as cocaine, crack and synthetic narcotics, Hendrik Streeck, the German government’s drug tsar told a press conference.
“Highly potent drugs are more readily available today than ever before. Cocaine and crack are becoming increasingly cheap,” Streeck said, presenting an annual report on drug-related crime.
Cocaine trafficking offences, for example, have increased by more than 45 percent over the past five years, according to the report.
The report also noted that the amount of MDMA — better known as ecstasy — seized by German police jumped by 115 percent, while seizures of methamphetamine rose by 13 percent and amphetamine by eight percent.
Younger people appear to be using more dangerous drugs, Streeck said, with drug-related deaths of those aged under 30 rising by 14 percent in 2024 compared with the previous year.
Similar worrying increases in the use of hard drugs by young people have been observed elsewhere in Europe, he added.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that the country had a “massive drug problem”.
He blamed “ever-increasing demand” on an “increase in production” in Europe.
The conservative minister also criticised Germany’s move to partially legalise marijuana use, a flagship measure of the previous centre-left government, saying that it “promotes drug use, rather than the opposite”.
However the annual report also showed that drug-related deaths in Germany actually fell slightly to 2,137 in 2024 — down four percent compared to record figures the previous year.
Even with the decline, the number of deaths remained the second-highest total on record.
The number of drug-related criminal offences dropped in 2024, but Streeck said that was due to the legalisation of marijuana.
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