Amphetamine use on rise in Finland: THL

The use of amphetamine has continued to increase in Finland, according to the wastewater studies of the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).

At the same time, the growth in the use of cocaine has stabilised and the use of ecstasy has decreased, said the THL in a press release on Tuesday.

The numbers of drug-impaired driving cases correlate with the amount of drugs detected in wastewater monitoring.

The latest results of the extensive national wastewater drug-content monitoring have come from sampling carried out in 27 cities and their surrounding areas in November and December last year and from sampling carried out in March of this year in Helsinki, Espoo, Turku and Tampere.

The population base of the study covers approximately 60 % of the Finnish population.

The results indicate that amphetamine is widely used throughout the country and its use has continued to grow, especially in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.

In March 2021, the highest levels of amphetamine use ever recorded were found in Helsinki and the neighbouring regions.

In addition to Helsinki, the wastewater treatment plant in Viikinmäki in Helsinki also covers central and eastern parts of Vantaa and Tuusula, Sipoo, Järvenpää, Kerava, Mäntsälä and Pornainen.

In addition to the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, an upward trend in the use of amphetamine was also observed in Lappeenranta, Kotka and Pori.

“The strong growth in the use of amphetamine at the population level is also reflected in societal side effects such as increased drug-impaired drunken driving,” said Head of Unit Teemu Gunnar from the THL.

The strong growth in the use of cocaine has stabilised over the last couple of years, and several cities have seen a slight decrease from the peak figures reached last year. This development can be seen especially in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area and in the largest cities.

The use of cocaine is nevertheless many times higher than it was in 2012. Cocaine use continues to be more and more centred around the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, as shown also by previous studies. North of Tampere, use of cocaine in Finland is very low and sporadic.

Ecstasy is used everywhere in Finland, but its use has also decreased in many of the cities examined.

In Finland, the most common new drug associated with problem use, alpha-PVP, was regularly detected only in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area and its vicinity, at the Nummela treatment plant in Vihti. Regional and temporal fluctuations in the use are clearly higher for designer drugs than for traditional drugs.

Amphetamine is still used more in Finland than in the rest of Europe, while cocaine is used significantly less

In spring 2020, amphetamine was still used more in Finland than in many other European countries.

The use of cocaine in Finland, on the other hand, remained significantly lower than the European average, despite the fact that the use of the substance has increased over the long term, especially in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.