Cocaine played a part in the majority of deaths caused by drug overdoses in Cyprus in 2024, according to data released in the European Union drugs agency’s latest annual European drug report on Tuesday.

The report found that cocaine was involved in the majority of overdose deaths in three other EU member states – Luxembourg, Malta and Portugal – with statistics from no fewer than 20 other member states showing that opioids were involved in the plurality of overdose deaths.

Cyprus was also mentioned in the report’s section on the potential for HIV outbreaks caused by the sharing of needles and increased use of stimulants, though the report did make clear that the number of diagnoses of HIV linked to injecting drug use across the EU declined to 822 in 2023.

However, the diagnosis rate – 1.83 per million people – remains almost twice as high as the joint United Nations programme on HIV and Aids (UNAids)’ target of 0.9 per million.

The report said that one “essential element” of efforts to drive this figure down is the provision of “sterile injecting equipment” to those using injecting drugs, so as to ensure that those who are using the drugs do not accidentally contract HIV.

“Nonetheless, levels of needle and syringe provision are inadequate in relation to estimated needs in several EU member states, including Bulgaria, Cyprus, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia,” it said.

Later, the report also made reference to “high-risk use of methamphetamine” in Cyprus, with 38,200 people on the island classified as “high-risk” users of the drug.

Overall, the European Commission said that the report found that “drugs have an increasingly negative impact on European health and security as they have become more available, more diverse and more potent”.

“Illicit drugs, including cocaine and synthetic drugs as well as new psychoactive substances, are widely available. New cannabis products continue to appear, while the variety of opioids and stimulants sold is on the rise,” it added,

It also warned that “drug trafficking constitutes a major threat to the security in Europe”, and that “organised crime networks are diversifying their trafficking routes and methods to evade detections, following intensified policing operations at major European ports”.

Upon the report’s presentation, European Internal Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner highlighted the spectre of overdose deaths, with 7,600 being recorded in the report.

“We must pull out all the stops to prevent dangerous new products from flooding the market and use the full force of the law to strip illegal traffickers of their business model,” he said.