EU Says Candidate Countries Cause Concern Over Drug Abuse

The European Union agency that monitors drug abuse expressed concern Wednesday about drug use in the 10 countries due to join the bloc next year. "Recreational drug use and experimentation are becoming an integral part of youth culture" in most candidate countries and treatment and needle exchange programs available in older EU members are not supported in new members, the Lisbon-based European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction said in a written statement. The report was made public as EU leaders met in Athens to sign a treaty that would allow the 10 countries in. The agency said in candidate countries "the phenomenon is newer and problem drug users are generally younger. There is considerable concern about the potential for future problems." The 10 countries are the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

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