Drugs in the wastewater: What analyzes reveal about Austria's consumption!
Drugs in the wastewater: What analyzes reveal about Austria's consumption!
Chemist Herbert Oberacher from the University of Innsbruck has published alarming results in a comprehensive monitoring of drug use in Austria. The study refers to the residues of drugs in wastewater and shows a clear trend: cannabis remains the most frequently consumed illegal substance, strongly followed by cocaine. These results are not only locally, but also record a total of 17 regions, including the Hofsteig region, and draw a detailed picture of drug use in Austria, which is in the European comparison in midfield, as vorarlberg.orf reported.
kufstein as cocaine hotspot
The situation in Kufstein is particularly striking, where the highest cocaine residues in the wastewater were found in terms of the population. Oberacher was not only able to attribute the reasons for this high drug use to tourist activities. Rather, it could be due to the distribution of small consumer groups that are active in the city. He explains that Kufstein primarily reflects the distribution of drug use in the entire Tyrolean lowlands. In western Austria, cocaine consumption is strongly based on the geographical location and the regionally available drug culture and emphasizes the differences between western and eastern Austria, where more amphetamines are consumed in the east. These insights were made possible by analyzing the sewage samples over a period of a week in spring 2024, as reports.The always growing amounts of cocaine and the availability of the substance are alarming. Oberacher also points out that the analysis of drug residues in the environment is not a health or ecological problem, since the concentrations are extremely low. Nevertheless, while the focus is on cocaine and amphetamines, the main problem remains in the opioids, which are responsible for the majority of drug -related deaths in Austria. A growing danger from synthetic opioids is determined, which are particularly dangerous and can lead to overdoses.
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| Ort | Kufstein, Österreich |
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