Cannabis and ketamine, in Cagliari consumption among the highest in Italy: the sewers reveal it

The consumption of old and new drugs is growing. With Sardinia which is positioned at the top of the relative Italian ranking with reference to cannabis and ketamine , the latter better known as the "rape drug" .

This is what emerges from the mapping of drug consumption in Italian cities starting from waste water , research carried out by the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research thanks to a study financed by the Department for Anti-Drug Policies of the Prime Minister's Office and the results of which were published in the Annual Report to Parliament.

According to the analysis, Nuoro and Cagliari , with more than 100 doses per day per 1,000 inhabitants, are among the cities with the highest per capita consumption of cannabis . Only Belluno is doing worse, which records consumption equal to 12 daily doses for every 1,000 inhabitants.

The use of ketamine is found in almost all the cities analyzed with an average of 5 mg per day per 1,000 inhabitants and consumption above the average in Cagliari , as well as in Bologna, Florence, Milan, Turin and Venice.

For cocaine, values greater than 20 doses per day per 1,000 inhabitants are observed in Pescara, Montichiari, Venice, Fidenza, Rome, Bologna, Merano, while the lowest consumption is in Belluno and Palermo (between 1 and 4 doses per day per 1,000 inhabitants).

«The wastewater project - explains Sara Castiglioni , head of the Mario Negri Environmental Epidemiological Indicators laboratory - has developed a survey network that included 33 cities in 20 regions . The method analyzes the metabolic residues of narcotic substances in urban waters arriving at purifiers, to estimate the substances that are consumed by the population".

The average consumption of methamphetamine is constant and with higher values in Rome. "As for ecstasy (Mdma), after the drop in 2020 - adds Castiglioni - an increase is noted in the autumn of 2021 probably in conjunction with the reopening of the discos after the stop due to the Covid pandemic".

(Unioneonline/vl)