The narcologist noted an increase in the illegal manufacture of synthetic drugs in Europe

There has been a significant increase in the illicit manufacture of synthetic drugs in the European region, with potent synthetic opioids posing a particular threat to the Baltic States. This was announced on February 27 by Professor Galina Korchagina, a member of the International Committee for Drug Control (INCB), Deputy Director of Science at the National Research Center of Narcology, a branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "NMITSPN named after V. P. Serbsky" of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.

"The illegal import of cocaine into Western and Central Europe has increased dramatically in recent years. <...> The illicit manufacture of synthetic drugs is expanding in Europe. The availability of potent synthetic opioids, in particular nitazenes, is increasing, which poses a threat to the entire region, especially to the Baltic countries," Korchagina said in a presentation to the INCB report for 2025.

According to the expert, by the end of 2024, a total of one thousand different types of psychoactive substances were monitored in the Early Warning System of the European Union. In addition, she said, there has been an increase in cocaine production in South America, which has led to the expansion of its markets in Asia and Africa, and South Asia is home to a third of the global opioid consumer market. At the same time, according to her, the number of drug overdoses in North America is gradually decreasing.

Korchagina called for strengthening international cooperation in combating illicit trafficking in prohibited substances. According to her, countries need to focus on controlling the transportation of psychoactive substances by people traveling abroad.

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