Menace to society: galore of illicit drugs available in the EU as powerful new substances emerge

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The EU says new harmful illicit drugs are inundating a flourishing market for traffickers amid violence and corruption hurting local communities across Europe. The grim message delivered Friday was part an annual report by the EU agency monitoring drugs and addiction. It warned that users in Europe are now exposed to a wider range of substances of high purity, including ketamine and of nitrous oxide _the so-called laughing gas. That’s raising fears, with reported cases of bladder and nerve damage or lung injuries. And alongside the high availability of heroin on the continent, synthetic opioids are on the rise and have been linked to deaths by overdose in Baltic countries.