Around 10 grams of cocaine are flushed down the toilet every day, according to a study of Malta’s sewage system.
A scientific analysis of pre-treated sewage water published by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction has found that Maltese sewers contained as much cocaine per inhabitant as Porto, where drug use is legal, and 10 times the amount in Athens.
The sewage analysis used technology applied in urine drug tests to identify the amount of benzoylecgonine, the chemical present in cocaine users’ urine, per thousand people per day.
The results showed that some 100mg of the active ingredient was flushed daily along with urine for every 1,000 Maltese.
The amount of cocaine ingested, however, was actually substantially higher, as the report explains that the benzoylecgonine that ends up in the urine only amounts to around 45 per cent of the actual cocaine snorted. The rest of the drug is converted into other substances once ingested and does not show up on the test.
This means that the amount of cocaine present was more than double that of the active ingredient, and when taken against Malta’s population of 423,282 , including the estimated 23,000 foreign nationals residing on the island, the figure amounts to around four kilos of cocaine annually.
2.4 million young adults aged 15 to 34 sniffed at least one line of the white powder across the EU last year
While the figure may seem conservative, compared to 35 kilos annually in Berlin, the analysis provides some of the first scientific data on cocaine consumption rates on the island.
In fact, the only other data available is based on surveys and questionnaires.
According to the EMCDDA report, cocaine is the most commonly used illicit stimulant in Europe, though its use is more prevalent in the south and west of Europe. Some 2.4 million young adults aged 15 to 34 sniffed at least one line of the white powder across the EU last year. Individual usage figures for Malta were not available.
Cocaine, however, was not the only substance scientists found in Malta’s sewers. The review also found that around a gram of amphetamines was being flushed away every day. Amphetamine and methamphetamine, two closely related stimulants, are both consumed in Europe, although amphetamine is by far the more commonly used in Malta, the report says.
An estimated 1.3 million young adults used amphetamines across the EU last year. Usage figures for Malta were not available.
Heroin-based sewage tests were not available on the island when the research was carried out.
The data collected in the study covers 2014, the year before Malta’s drug laws were overhauled to decriminalise simple possession. Besides drug use, the report also covers Malta’s drug enforcement.
According to the report, some two kilos of heroin were seized during 33 raids and police operations in 2014. Approximately five kilos of cocaine and 334 ecstasy pills were also discovered.
By far the most popular drug to be confiscated by the authorities was cannabis, with 114 kilos seized.
Although police raids were 16 times more likely to discover cannabis than any other drug in Malta, those who sought treatment for drug addiction were more likely to be on “harder” substances, the report says.
In fact, four-fifths of rehabilitation centre residents used heroin, cocaine or ecstasy. Just one in 10, on the other hand, sought help for cannabis use.