FOR YEARS European authorities have worried that a drug epidemic on the scale of America’s opioid crisis would arrive at the continent’s shores. Drugs like fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more powerful than heroin, are estimated to kill around 70,000 Americans every year.
Europe has, so far, managed to escape fentanyl’s grip. Universal health care throughout much of the region means that most patients are able to treat the source of their pain, instead of turning to addictive medical opioids for a quick fix. But their uptake is greater in some European countries than others. This year’s report by the EU’s European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction shows where drug overdoses are estimated to be happening most frequently, and the extent to which opioids are responsible.