THL’s wastewater study revealed that the use of cocaine has increased in many cities in southern Finland. In the North, a similar development in relation to amphetamine has not been seen.
The use of cocaine is clearly increasing in Southern Finland.
According to the Institute of Health and Welfare’s wastewater study, cocaine is used in some places in the capital region already more than amphetamine, which has traditionally been considered a significant mirror of the country’s drug situation.
The change has happened this summer.
The weekend use of cocaine now surpassed that of amphetamine for the first time in the capital region.
Amphetamine is used on weekdays
In addition to the capital region, an increase in cocaine residues was also found in the wastewater of Salo and Kuopio, but it was more subdued than in the capital region. Based on the research, cocaine is also used a lot in Lahti and some other cities in southern Finland.
Even in Tampere, the amount of residues in waste water had increased, but did not reach the same level as amphetamine.
However, there were big differences between the cities. In Turku, cocaine was not highlighted in the same way as in the capital region. In addition, in the north the use of cocaine is still lower than that of amphetamine.
– There are also smaller cities in our country where there is almost no cocaine in the waste water, reminds Gunnar.
The use of cocaine and also ecstasy increased on weekends, while amphetamine was used more evenly throughout the week.
– This reflects the fact that cocaine is used by people other than problem groups, says Gunnar.
The table below shows how much amphetamine and cocaine residues have been found in urban wastewater and how their use is distributed in different cities. The information in the table is from March 2022.
The change can be seen in drug drunk driving
In THL’s wastewater study, residues of amphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy, methadone and conversion drugs were investigated in the wastewater.
The use of amphetamine, which was at the top of the statistics in previous years, rose to record numbers in 2020, but now the amount has dropped to the same level as before the corona era.
According to THL’s assessment, the use of amphetamine started to decline after the extensive drug seizures made by the authorities in the spring of 2021, and has not since returned to record levels.
– This can also be seen in the number of mild cases. Last year, drug-driving drunkenness already decreased from the year before that, says Gunnar.
The availability of cocaine, on the other hand, has generally increased in Europe.
Big regional differences in conversion drugs
In Finland, the use of drugs as a whole has increased over the course of ten years, but in some localities there was also a decrease.
MDMA, or ecstasy, is used all over Finland, but its quantity had also decreased in several of the cities studied. Such were, for example, Jyväskylä, Lahti and Pori.
Conversion drugs are regularly detected in the capital region and occasionally in different parts of the country. The regional variation is large.
In March, alpha-PHP was found in Kokkola, Vaasa, Seinäjoki, Pietarsaari and Savonlinna even more than in the capital region. It could have been a certain batch that arrived in the locality.
10 years of research
The purpose of the wastewater survey is to comprehensively map the use of drugs in Finland. The study covers 60 percent of the entire population of Finland. It covers 27 cities and their surrounding areas. The research has been carried out until 2012.
The samples of the ongoing wastewater research are collected from Helsinki, Tampere and Turku between Sunday and Monday morning.
More extensive monitoring of waste water was last carried out in March of this year.