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COVID-19 and drugs

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Overview

COVID-19 is the name of a disease caused by a coronavirus and was first reported in December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in March 2020 and all EU countries and the UK are affected. How is the COVID-19 pandemic affecting people who use drugs and those who provide services to them? Has there been an impact on the drug market? This page brings together a range of resources on COVID-19 and drugs, from the EMCDDA, partner organisations and others.

COVID-19 and drugs: woman wearing surgical mask overlaid with images of a virus

Publications

Publications by the EMCDDA on this topic

European Drug Report 2022: Trends and Developments

June 2022

The Trends and Developments report presents the EMCDDA’s latest analysis of the drug situation in Europe. Focusing on illicit drug use, related harms and drug supply, the report contains a comprehensive set of national data across these themes and key harm-reduction interventions.

DRID: update from expert network, 2021

January 2022

The objectives of the Drug-related infectious diseases (DRID) network are to share the latest developments on drug-related infectious diseases in Europe and to identify steps needed to improve the production, availability and use of public health-oriented information at the European level. This…

European Web Survey on Drugs 2021: Western Balkans

January 2022

The European Web Survey on Drugs collected data between March and April 2021 from people who use drugs, aged 18 or older, living in 21 EU and 9 non-EU countries. This fact sheet presents some of the top-level findings from five countries in the Western Balkans.

Spotlight on… Health and social responses to drug problems during the Covid-19 pandemic

October 2021

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Since then, the virus has claimed millions of lives and has transformed nearly every aspect of individual and collective reality. This spotlight outlines the main impacts of COVID 19 pandemic on drug availability and use…

Illicit drug markets and supply in the Western Balkans: Impact of COVID-19

June 2021

The Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) registered the main waves of COVID-19 infections later than most of the EU countries, but containment strategies were implemented at the same time and with equal force as in the rest of Europe.…

European Drug Report 2021: Trends and Developments

June 2021

News

Read our most recent news on this topic

Drug supply and use bounce back after COVID-19 disruption (June 2022)
EMCDDA releases third trendspotter study on COVID-19 and drugs (April 2021)
EMCDDA releases study findings on the impact of COVID-19 on drug markets, use and services in the southern ENP region (December 2020)
COVID-19 disruption and a strong drug market bring new threats to health and security in Europe (September 2020)
EMCDDA welcomes external partners to virtual event on lessons learned from the impact of COVID-19 on the drug situation in Europe (June 2020)
Speech by Alexis Goosdeel: Closing remarks on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world drug situation — the European perspective (June 2020)

Events

Recent and upcoming entries from our events calendar

2021 NIDA International Forum (21 Jun 2021 to 24 Jun 2021, Online)
Expert Group Briefing on Harm Reduction (27 May 2021, Online)
41st EAPCCT Congress (24 May 2021 to 28 May 2021, Online)
Webinar on pathological addictions (Italian) (14 May 2021, Online)
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on drug indicators at European level (28 Apr 2021, Online)
Coffee talks: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on drug trafficking and drug use in Europe (27 Apr 2021, Online)

Document library

Documents on this topic in our Document Library

The impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on drug service provision in European prisons (2021)
Changes in drug use in European cities during early COVID-19 lockdowns (2021)
Drug-related violence: Will COVID-19 drive better data for safer and more secure EU? (2021)
Monitoring an online illicit drug market during COVID 19 in Georgia (2021)
A global study of the escalation of substance use and its association with mental health symptoms during the early wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic (2021)
COVID-19 and drugs in the European neighbourhood partnership countries (2021)