Rotterdam has highest cannabis use in Europe; Cocaine most popular in Amsterdam

Rotterdam is the cannabis capital of Europe, according to a study by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). The city has the highest concentrations of cannabis residues in its sewage of the 88 European cities surveyed and came in second place for MDMA - the active ingredient in ecstasy. Cocaine is the most popular drug in Amsterdam. And Leeuwarden’s drug use is surprisingly high, NRC reports.

For a week long in the spring of 2023, the researchers tested the water in sewage treatment plants in 88 cities in 24 European countries. They then calculated the concentration of six drugs in the wastewater per 1,000 residents to make the results comparable. The drugs are methamphetamine (meth), MDMA, cocaine, amphetamine (speed), cannabis, and ketamine. The Dutch cities that participated were Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Leeuwarden, Utrecht, and Eindhoven.

The Netherlands remains a big drug user in the European context - at least one Dutch city was in the top 5 users for almost all measured narcotics. The only exception is methamphetamine, where none of the participating Dutch cities made it into the top ten.

Amsterdam, Leeuwarden, and Rotterdam are in third to fifth place for cocaine use, after Antwerp and Tarragona. Rotterdam took first place for cannabis. Leeuwarden came third and Amsterdam fourth. Rotterdam (2), Amsterdam (3), and Utrecht (4) are all in the top five for MDMA. Leeuwarden came in seventh place.

Rotterdam (2) is the only Dutch city in the top five for ketamine use, though Leeuwarden (7) made it to the top ten. Leeuwarden (5) is the only Dutch city in the top five for speed. Rotterdam took sixth place. Speed usage is three times higher in Leeuwarden than in Amsterdam.

Eindhoven came in seventh place for cocaine use, and Utrecht in eighth. The two cities are also in the top ten for cannabis use, in eighth and ninth place, respectively.

Researchers at the Trimbos Institute, who did the Dutch part of this study, are surprised by the level of drug use in Leeuwarden. “If you look at the demographic profile of Leeuwarden, it is not a city with many students or tourism,” Trimbos researcher Laura Smit-Rigter told NRC. She called the measured drug residues in the city striking. “In Leeuwarden, it is on the high side, yes.”