By Sandra Basan
The Berliners have the edge when it comes to coke. Nowhere else in Germany is so much cocaine consumed. Trend: rapidly increasing!
This is the result of the new wastewater analysis by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).
In the spring of 2022, scientists took samples from the catch basins of sewage treatment plants in 104 European cities. They examined the waste water samples from 54 million people for residues and degradation products of drugs in order to get an overview of the drug consumption of the population.
With a concentration of 541.34 mg cocaine residues per 1000 people per day, Berlin is ranked 16th in Europe – behind cities such as Antwerp (2381.39) and Amsterdam (1142.43). However: In 2018, the Berlin value in the wastewater analysis was still 343.08.
︎ Dortmund (349.67) and Munich (236.41) proved to be other German cocaine strongholds. Consumption increases at the weekend. And it has been increasing for years – across Europe. Total residues in wastewater have more than tripled since 2015.
German meth stronghold: Chemnitz
▶︎ Methamphetamine, known as crystal meth, is also spreading more and more. In Germany, residues of the highly addictive drug were found, especially in the East. With 279.49 mg per 1000 people per day, Chemnitz is in fourth place in Europe and at the top of the list in Germany – ahead of Dresden (266.96) and Erfurt (226.41). Unlike cocaine, crystal meth has been shown to be used evenly throughout the week.
The party drug MDMA (ecstasy) is used like cocaine at the weekend. Berlin is still the leader among German cities (47.55) – with a downward trend (8th place in a European comparison). In Saarbrücken (15.59) and Erfurt (13.45), places two and three in Germany, less ecstasy is consumed than in the previous year.
Residues of speed were mainly found in the sewage in Saarbrücken (360.08), Dülmen (264.72) and Dortmund (191.79) – distributed quite evenly over the week with a slight increase at the weekend.
Ten cities in Germany took part in the wastewater study, which has been carried out annually since 2011: Berlin, Dortmund, Munich, Magdeburg, Saarbrücken, Dülmen, Erfurt, Nuremberg, Dresden and Chemnitz.