The study aimed at the assessment of quantitative parameters of drug consumption. As the First Multi-City Study (Eisenbach-Stangl et al., 2009) it was part of a comprehensive effort of UNODC to construct “a policy relevant illicit drug index” per country. The predefined research questions and cornerstones of the research design focussed on amounts of drugs consumed by individual drug users per consumption occasion and respective expenditures in selected European cities. Five illicit drugs were of interest: Cannabis, heroin, cocaine, amphetamine and ecstasy. The European capitals chosen were Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Moscow, Bucharest, Belgrade and Sarajevo.
The consumption parameters of interest were assessed by a survey of two ideal-typically constructed user groups: occasional drug users and frequent poly drug users. The survey was complemented by city reports providing for a “dense” description of the “setting” – the drug situation at the research sites.
The comparative findings highlight the impact of two social dimensions on drug consumption patterns: Social class, on the one hand, provides for basic differences between frequent poly drug users (addressed as “marginalized”) and occasional (“socially integrated”) users in regard to drug preferences, consumption modes, risks and consequences, drug sources, expenditures and many aspects more. On the other hand, consumption patterns are determined by (national and local) drug cultures providing for varying attitudes towards intoxicants and intoxication. The impact of the two dimensions is taken up in the final part of the report.
