En the space of thirty years, the consumption of cocaine and MDMA, also commonly called ecstasy, has increased significantly, according to a new survey by the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Trends (OFDT). “Undeniably, something is happening in France,” warns Stanislas Spilka, scientific director of the survey. “These products seem to be spreading to other areas, in different contexts and in a new population.”
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Between 1992 and 2023, the proportion of adults having used cocaine over the year increased tenfold, from 0.3 to 2.7%. In total, nearly one in ten adults have already used cocaine in 2023, compared to 6% in 2017.
On the MDMA side, in 2023, 1.8% of French people say they have used it in the past year, compared to 0.2% in 2000, and one in twelve French people have already tested it. Consumption which probably responds to “contexts which have evolved within our society”, explains Stanislas Spilka.
France faces a mass increase in cocaine experimentation
To carry out this survey on representations, opinions and perceptions of psychotropic drugs (EROPP), nearly 15,000 adults aged 18 to 75 were questioned over six years. And there is no doubt for the OFDT: France is facing a mass increase in cocaine experimentation. This drug is “the highest increase in number of points (+ 3.8) measured among all illicit substances”.
As for the consumer profile, we note that men are 2.5 times more likely than women to have already experienced it (13.4% compared to 5.5%) and that those under 45, and in particular 25-34 years old, are the biggest consumers in 2023.
READ ALSO “There is a desire to flood Europe with cocaine” The reason for this increase is multifactorial. First of all, the market offering, of better quality and more accessible for several years, could encourage consumption. “Cocaine is becoming more and more available. The supply has increased significantly, with record seizures, in a context of considerably increasing production, a price which is stagnating – between 60 and 70 euros per gram – while purity increases,” Guillaume Airagnes explained to AFP, the director of the OFDT.
Then, French people looking for a stimulating product responding to “complicated life contexts” would dare more to experiment with this drug, analyzes Stanislas Spilka. For others, it would be a product meeting productivity needs. Finally, the population’s perception of the dangerousness of cocaine is declining from year to year. Thus, cocaine becomes more and more popular, and becomes more marginalized.
MDMA consumption increases
Also called the love drug, MDMA, like cocaine, has also seen a surge in consumption in recent years. More experienced (8.2% in 2023 compared to 5% in 2017) but also more consumed over the last twelve months (1.8% in 2023 compared to 1% in 2017), ecstasy is popular among 18-24 year olds. and 25-34 year olds.
“MDMA is an empathogen [substance psychoactive qui amplifie la capacité d’empathie, NDLR], explains Stanislas Spilka. Rather always consumed in festive contexts, it meets needs other than cocaine. But it remains difficult for us to analyze the reasons for this acceleration. We have rarely seen such progression over just a few years; we still need to dissect the contexts of use. »
READ ALSO Drug trafficking: why France is not a “narco-state”, but is at a turning pointFor Stanislas Spilka, even if it is easier to obtain ecstasy today than in other times, “this increase cannot be reduced to a simple question of supply and demand”.
Stagnation of cannabis, heroin and crack
For three decades, cannabis has remained the most consumed drug in France and its rate of experimentation has continued to increase, going from 12.7% in 1992 to 50.4% in 2023. However, the number of regular smokers has remained relatively stable since 2014. But, a positive element noted by the OFDT in its new survey, consumption over the last twelve months of cannabis is decreasing among 18-24 year olds. “However, we note that a small fringe of experimenters from the early 2000s have maintained cannabis consumption over the years. We are therefore starting to see consumers aged over 50 appear in our surveys who were not observed before,” explains Stanislas Spilka.
READ ALSO Germany, the new El Dorado for cannabis smokersAmong all illicit drugs, except cannabis, only heroin and crack have not seen an increase in consumption. And, for the first time, the OFDT questioned the French about three new synthetic drugs: ketamine, 3MMC and GHB. The first, a powerful anesthetic with psychotropic properties, was consumed by 0.6% of French people during the last twelve months, and tested by 2.6% of French people during their lifetime.
The second, a stimulating synthetic drug with aphrodisiac properties and linked to the chemsex environment, was consumed in 2023 by 0.3% of adults, and tried at least once in their life by 0.7% of French people. Finally, for the third, a synthetic drug with sedative and amnesiac properties, 0.1% of French people used it last year and 0.7% have already tried it.
