Country overview: Romania
- Situation summary
- Data sheet
- Barometer
Contents
- Drug use among the general population and young people
- Prevention
- Problem drug use
- Treatment demand
- Drug-related infectious diseases
- Drug-related deaths
- Treatment responses
- Harm reduction responses
- Drug markets and drug-related offences
- National drug laws
- National drug strategy
- Coordination mechanism in the field of drugs
- Drug-related research
| Year | Romania | EU (27 countries) | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 2010 | 21 462 186 | 501 105 661 p | Eurostat | |
| Population by age classes | 15–24 | 2010 | 13.9 % | 12.1 % p | Eurostat |
| 25–49 | 37.2 % | 35.8 % p | |||
| 50–64 | 18.8 % | 19.1 % p | |||
| GDP per capita in PPS (Purchasing Power Standards) 1 | 2009 | 46 | 100 | Eurostat | |
| Total expenditure on social protection (% of GDP) 2 | 2008 | 14.3 % | 26.4 % p | Eurostat | |
| Unemployment rate 3 | 2010 | 7.3 % | 9.6 % | Eurostat | |
| Unemployment rate of population aged under 25 years | 2010 | 22.1 % | 20.9 % | Eurostat | |
| Prison population rate (per 100 000 of national population) 4 | 2009 | 125.7 | Council of Europe, SPACE I-2009 | ||
| At risk of poverty rate 5 | 2009 | 22.4 % | 16.3 % | SILC | |
p Eurostat provisional value.
1 Gross domestic product (GDP) is a measure of economic activity. It is defined as the value of all goods and services produced less the value of any goods or services used in their creation. The volume index of GDP per capita in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) is expressed in relation to the European Union (EU-27) average set to equal 100. If the index of a country is higher than 100, this country's level of GDP per head is higher than the EU average and vice versa.
2 Expenditure on social protection contains: benefits, which consist of transfers, in cash or in kind to households and individuals to relieve them of the burden of a defined set of risks or needs.
3 Unemployment rates represent unemployed persons as a percentage of the labour force. Unemployed persons comprise persons aged 15 to 74 who were: (a) without work during the reference week; (b) currently available for work; (c) actively seeking work.
4 Situation of penal institutions on 1 September, 2009.
5 Share of persons aged 0+ with an equivalent disposable income below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold, which is set at 60 % of the national median equivalised disposable income (after social transfers).
Drug use among the general population and young people
The first general population survey was held in 2004. The survey revealed low lifetime prevalence rates for illegal drug use. Only 1.7 % of persons aged 15–64 reported use of cannabis at least once in their lifetime. For other illicit drugs (heroin, cocaine, amphetamines, ecstasy and LSD) lifetime prevalence rates were below 1 % in Romania. In 2007, the second general population showed a lifetime prevalence of cannabis use of 1.5 % among 15–64 year olds. With regards to the other substances, prevalence were all reported below 0.5 %.
National school surveys were conducted in Romania in 1999, 2003 and 2007 among a representative sample of students aged 15–16, as part of the ESPAD project. Generally the data show that the prevalence of illicit drug use is low in Romania compared to EU Member States, but the trends for drug use seem to be increasing for most drugs. So far, surveys indicated that cannabis is the most prevalent drug among students and that lifetime prevalence increased from 1 % in 1999 to 4 % in 2007 ( 3 % in 2003). Lifetime prevalence of inhalants was reported by 4 % (1 % in 2003) of the students and cocaine by 2 %. Last year prevalence of cannabis use was reported by 2 % of the sample and last month prevalence by 1 %.
Prevention
The main objectives and features of prevention policy according to the Romanian anti-drug strategy are: dissemination of information regarding the risks and effects of drug use and misuse; setting up a territorial network of drug prevention and counselling centres under the coordination of the National Anti-drug Agency; and drafting the standards for prevention interventions necessary for the process of monitoring and evaluation, thus ensuring the quality of drug use prevention activities. There were two main evolutions within the national anti-drug strategy for 2006: improvement of the geographical coverage of prevention projects; and continuation of the projects which proved to be effective in the previous years.
Schools represent the dominant setting for universal prevention activities. The standard information programmes continued to play a significant part in drug use prevention; however, components related to building personal skills as protection factors against drug use and use of peer-based training modalities are being increasingly incorporated within universal prevention activities.
Selective prevention is mostly targeted at school dropouts, the prison population, high-risk teenagers, parents, Roma groups and pupils with academic problems. It enjoys visible, if limited, political resonance. National agencies and institutions with an exclusive focus on specific campaigns also carry out selective prevention programmes in recreational settings. The special characteristics of the prevention culture in Romania within the European context are: a very strong focus on mass media campaigns; information-only approaches; and increasing attention given to targeting vulnerable groups.
Problem drug use
Since the beginning of the 1990s, heroin has been the illicit drug associated with the highest level of drug-related problems. Most drug users taking heroin are injecting users. In 2008 and 2009, a multiplier method was used to estimate the number of problem drug users in Bucharest. The results indicated that in 2008, the number of problem drug users was between 11 855 and 32 600 (with 17 387 as a central estimate), and in 2009, it was between 16 343 and 19 464 (with 17 767 as a central estimate). However, the rate was only calculated amongst the 18–49-year old age group and thus is not comparable to other countries’ rates. However, it suggests that Bucharest is among the metropolitan cities of Europe with the lowest prevalence of problem drug use.
The EMCDDA defines problem drug use as intravenous drug use (IDU) or long duration/regular drug use of opiates, cocaine and/or amphetamines. Ecstasy and cannabis are not included in this category.
Treatment demand
In 2009, besides the existing care services offered to the drug users through the medical units of the Ministry of Public Health, other integrated care services were provided through the Drug Prevention, Evaluation and Counselling Centres within the National Anti-drug Agency. By setting up and supporting the work of these centres, it was aiming to improve the medical and psychosocial services and to increase the access of drug users to services. In 2009, the total number of all clients entering treatment was 1 689, out of which 1 008 were first-time treatment clients.
As in previous years, in 2009 opioids were reported as the primary drug among all clients entering treatment, at 77.1 %, followed by cannabis at 6.2 %. In 2009, among first-time treatment clients 70.0 % reported that opioids were the main drug, followed by 9.2 % for cannabis.
Furthermore, in 2009, 30 % of all clients entering treatment were less than 25 years. A similar percentage in age distribution was reported among new treatment clients, with 35 % under the age of 25. As regards gender distribution among all clients entering treatment, 80 % were male and 20 % were female. A similar gender distribution was reported among new treatment clients entering treatment with 79 % for male and 21 % for female.
Drug-related infectious diseases
The situation with regard to drug-related infectious diseases reveals that only a limited amount of data on the prevalence of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C is available at national level. Data based on tests performed among users seeking medical assistance in Bucharest centres in 2009 suggest still a low prevalence for HIV: around 3.3 % (11 positive cases out of 329 IDUs tested), but this is the highest prevalence rate recorded since 2004 among treatment clients. The increase in the prevalence is attributed mainly to enhanced IDU monitoring and testing capacity, and suggests possible under-reporting in previous years.
In 2009, a serologic and behavioural study on the prevalence of infectious diseases among IDUs in Bucharest was carried out. The study, which used respondent-driven sampling, recruited a total of 449 IDUs; and the results indicate HIV prevalence at 1.1 %.
With regards to HCV infection, the available data indicates stable prevalence rates at high levels. In 2009, the serologic and behavioural study reported HCV prevalence at 82.9 % among street IDUs. The confirmation tests were done for most of the HIV cases, but at a lower rate for HVB and HCV.
Drug-related deaths
In 2009, the data on drug-related deaths in Romania was reported from the Forensic Medicine network which is comprised of 53 forensic medicine units nationwide, although the majority of the DRD cases still originate from the National Legal Medicine Institute in Bucharest. In 2009, 32 directly drug-related deaths were reported (in comparison to 33 cases in 2008, 32 cases in 2007 and 21 cases in 2006). With regards to the distribution by age and sex, the majority of them were men with 96.9 % and the mean age was 27.4 years. Around 87.1 % of DRD cases in 2009 were caused by opiates, and in a third of the cases, a presence of methadone was detected.
Treatment responses
The General Healthcare and Programme Department within the Ministry of Public Health, coordinates and manages healthcare in the treatment of problem drug users, as well as the national health programmes with therapeutic and social reintegration components. Furthermore, since 2005, the National Anti-drug Agency has coordinated activities in the drugs field at both national and local level. Drug treatment is predominately delivered in public medical units, which are financed from the public budget and are operated under the coordination of the Ministry of Public Health and starting with 2007, by the Drug Prevention, Evaluation and Counselling Centres under the coordination of the National Anti-drug Agency. In addition, a number of NGOs provide drug treatment such as counselling and methadone substitution treatment. In general, drug treatment is funded by the national health programmes, through the specific sub-programme for drug treatment.
The drug treatment system in Romania is classified into three levels of assistance and care. The first level is the main access path to integrated care for drug users and provides treatment at primary medical assistance units, emergency rooms, and general social services delivered by public, private and non-governmental organisations. The second level is called the integrated care services. These are referral centres, operated exclusively by public treatment services, which provide psychiatric units for primary or specialised care, or for mental health treatment. The third level relates to highly specialised care, and consists of inpatient detoxification treatment and residential therapeutic communities. After-care services were poorly developed, with one centre in the public network (near Bucharest) and several foundations and NGOs offering assistance. Treatment centres were financed through a special budget line in the public authority budget.
Methadone was introduced in 1998, buprenorphine followed in 2007 and the combination buprenorphine/naloxone in 2008, however there are not reported clients for the two latter substitution medication. The legal procedures for entering into substitution treatment were under revision in 2005, in order to simplify access to treatment.
However, the coverage rate is estimated to be low with 424 clients in opioid substitution treatment, of whom 187 are receiving methadone substitution treatment and 88 buprenorphine in 2009.
Harm reduction responses
Prevention activities targeting drug-related infectious diseases related to injecting, are financed mainly under the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and are implemented in Bucharest by the NGOs ARAS and ALIAT. Syringe exchange programmes are implemented only in Bucharest, which is considered to have the most serious problems related to injecting drug use. NGOs are the main service providers, carrying out outreach programmes, addressing injecting drug users and sex workers, as well as providing syringe exchange programmes, both in fixed locations and via street workers. In 2007, a new UNODC-funded syringe programme was set up. Together, NGOs provided services to more than 9 400 drug users and giving out in 2009 1.7 million syringes. Sustainability of the programmes continues to be a significant issue, with funding being granted exclusively by foreign sponsors. Apart from the programmes in the capital city, syringe exchange programmes exist also in three other counties. However, demands for such services there remain low. The outreach programmes also provide counselling, education material, hepatitis A and B vaccinations and referrals to health services. Finally, treatment of drug-related infectious diseases is estimated as being relatively accessible in case of HIV infections and difficult with regard to hepatitis C.
Drug markets and drug-related offences
There is limited information on trafficking routes and production of drugs in Romania; however, the available data from drug seizures collected in 2008 suggest that most drugs are smuggled into Romania. The heroin seized was mainly manufactured in Afghanistan, and on a smaller scale in Turkey and Iran. Hashish seized comes from Morocco, via Spain and Portugal. In the case of cocaine, it is shipped from Colombia but also from Mexico, Bolivia and Venezuela. Ecstasy and amphetamines originate from the Netherlands and Belgium.
With regards to the quantity of illicit drugs seized in 2009, there was a significant increase in the total quantity of seized cocaine, from 3 kg in 2008 to 1 283 kg in 2009. While the quantities of other drugs seized remained same or were lower when compared to previous years. A substantial decline in the quantity of ecstasy seized was reported in 2009 (11 778 tablets) when compared to 2008 (52 237 tablets). In 2006, quantity seized for heroin (33 kg) decreased when compared to 2005 (285 kg), followed by an increase over the period 2007 to 2008 (130 kg and 385 kg, respectively) and a subsequent levelling off in 2009 (85 kg). Furthermore, a decline was reported for herbal cannabis in 2009 (199 kg) when compared to previous years (2 115 kg in 2007 and 209 kg in 2008). In addition, 37 kg of cannabis resin was seized in 2009, which is slightly more than 33 kg seized in 2008.
National drug laws
In Romania, drug consumption per se is not an offence, but drug possession is. Following a change in 2004, penalties for possession are now separated by type of drug — ‘risk’ or ‘high risk’, and there are new separate concepts of user and addict, following DSM psychiatric concepts.
The jury can impose a sentence between six months and two years in prison or a fine in case of possession for personal use of risk drugs, or up to five years’ imprisonment for high risk drugs. From the procedural point of view, when a drug user is convicted for any of the above-mentioned offences, at the moment of imprisonment he or she can choose an integrated assistance programme over prison, and consent of the drug user is a prerequisite for inclusion in such a programme. The provisions regarding alternatives to imprisonment for possession of drugs for personal use are stipulated in the new Penal Code, adopted in July 2009, but are not yet applied because the new Criminal Procedure Code has not yet been adopted. From 2004, assets seized from drug offences should finance projects that target prevention or countering drug abuse or trafficking.
In the period 2009–10, 44 ethno-botanical plants and new psychoactive substances were placed under control in Romania.
National drug strategy
The objectives of Romania’s second anti-drug strategy (2005–12) and its action plan for implementation (2005–08) are to develop an integrated system of institutions and public services to ensure the reduction of drug use, adequate medical, psychological and social assistance for drug users, and streamlined activities for preventing and countering the trafficking and production of illicit drugs and precursors. The short-term aims of the strategy are to maintain a low level of drug use in the general population, to decrease the number of new drug users and to reduce drug-related organised crime. The strategy is comprehensive and focuses on both licit and illicit drugs, covering drug demand reduction, drug supply reduction, international cooperation, information and evaluation, inter-agency coordination and providing the necessary resources. The action plan 2005–08 comprises a detailed list of activities with a systematic mention of a deadline and responsibilities for implementation. This action plan was evaluated in 2009 and a new action plan 2009–12 was formulated in 2010.
Coordination mechanism in the field of drugs
In December 2002, the Romanian Government established the National Anti-drug Agency (NAA), a specialised legal entity under the coordination of the Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reform. In accordance with its founding regulation, the NAA’s main tasks included overseeing a standard approach to the fight against illicit drug trafficking and drug use, in accordance with the National Anti-drug Strategy, and coordinating the competent authorities, other state institutions and non-governmental organisations. The Agency also consolidated and monitored the results of cooperation between the competent Romanian institutions and foreign organisations working in the field. The Romanian Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction was located within the NAA as one of its four units.
The National Anti-drug Agency had 47 drug prevention, evaluation and counselling centres — representing the Agency at local level (41 counties and six districts of Bucharest).
Starting with March 2009, following the adoption of the Governmental Emergency Ordinance No 20/2009, NAA was re-organised from a governmental legal entity, acting as strategic coordinator of drug policy in Romania, into a non-legal entity at service level within the Romanian Police, while its rights and legal obligations have been shifted to the Inspectorate General of Romanian Police (IGRP), with four offices at central level and territorial structures (17 regional offices comprising 47 drug prevention, evaluation and counselling centres), whose work has been significantly affected by the migration of staff, trained and specialised over the past five years. In March 2011, by government decision 461/2011, the NAA was again repositioned as a governmental legal entity, following the signals from civil society and local and national different public structures.
Drug-related research
The Ministry of Education and Research finances research projects for governmental institutions and NGOs, through the National Authority for Scientific Research/Excellence Research Programme. NGOs may also benefit from external funds, such as the World Bank/Global Fund; OSI; UNICEF; UNODC. Research is mainly conducted by public bodies and NGOs and findings disseminated through websites and professional journals. Recent drug-related studies mentioned in the 2010 Romanian National report mainly focused on aspects related to the consequences of drug use.
