In November 2022, the European Commission published the results of the latest Eurobarometer survey on the impact of drugs on communities in the EU. Between 03 and 12 September 2024, 25 680 Europeans aged 15 and over were surveyed across 27 EU countries. All interviews were carried out via Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI). In each country, respondents were called both on landlines and mobile phones. In Bulgaria were covered 1010 respondents.
The survey shows that four in ten respondents (39%) think that the use of illicit drugs is a serious problem in their local area (52% of respondents in Bulgaria), with over a third (34%) of them think that problems caused by drug use and drug trafficking have increased in their local area over the past few years (42% of respondents in Bulgaria).
Among the biggest concerns of respondents there is the availability of drugs and the consumption of drugs among children and teenagers (respectively mentioned by 62% and 60% of respondents who think drugs are a problem in their local area; respectively 80% and 77% of respondents in Bulgaria). Drug use is also considered to be a cause of:
- youth crime (61% of respondents in EU and 78% of respondents in Bulgaria);
- stealing, theft or burglary (58% of respondents in EU and 76% of respondents in Bulgaria);
- violent crime or murder (47% of respondents in EU and 70% of respondents in Bulgaria);
- corruption (29% of respondents in EU and 54% of respondents in Bulgaria).
The results of the Eurobarometer survey will be taken into account for the indicators selected by the Commission for the EU Drugs Action Plan 2021-2025 that implements the EU Drugs Strategy 2021-2025.
Impact of drugs on communities – 2024 REPORT