24 million European adults have used cannabis in the past year, with 4.6 million consuming it daily, according to a new report by the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA).
The European Drug Report 2025 analysed data from annual surveys conducted by member countries in 2024* and other sources to examine trends such as youth drug use, harm reduction, trade, and legislation within the EU, Norway and Turkey.
The report found that cannabis remains the continent’s most frequently used illicit substance, with cocaine reported as the second frequent.
An estimated 8.4% of European adults aged between 15 and 64 have used cannabis in the past year. The country with the highest number of adults 15-65 years old who said they had used cannabis at least once in their lifetime was France (50.4%), followed by Spain (43.7%), and Italy (34.8%).
The report also found that teen use has dropped significantly since 2003. 5.7% of 15-16 year olds declared they had taken cannabis in the past month, down from 9.7% in 2003, and 13% said they had tried it at least once, down from 21% in 2003. The report also found that 2.6% of students tried cannabis for the first time before they were 13 years old.
“Over 90% of users indicated that home was the typical setting for their use of the drug, and around 80% reported using it in a joint, both in herbal and resin forms,” the report states.
The data shows that the potency of extracts such as hash has increased significantly, while cannabis flower THC levels were consistent with previous years.
“Indexed trends show that the average THC content of resin almost doubled between 2013 and 2023, whereas that of herbal cannabis remained generally stable. It should be noted that the THC content of retail level samples of both cannabis resin and herb can vary considerably.”
The report also revealed that the total seizures of cannabis across Europe rose to historically high levels in 2023. EU Member States reported 259,000 seizures of cannabis resin totalling 551 tonnes, alongside 219,000 seizures of herbal cannabis amounting to 201 tonnes.
Trafficking methods are evolving rapidly in response to global legalisation. Traditional container ship and lorry routes are being supplemented by passenger aircraft, with cannabis arriving in luggage from newly legal markets in Canada, the United States and Thailand.
“Since 2019, the volume of herbal cannabis seized has increased significantly in Spain,” the report notes, highlighting how trafficking networks adapt to enforcement pressures.
The report highlights the increase in hospital admissions across Europe for ‘drug-toxicity’, steering the blame towards high-potency concentrates such as rosin and shatter, and to synthetic cannabinoids, which it says are often sold unsuspectingly as real cannabis. The issue of semi-synthetic cannabinoids was also raised by the authors, who noted that substances like HHC, HHC-P, and THCP have become available legally in some EU countries.
“While knowledge of the effects of HHC in humans is limited, concerns have been raised as studies have emerged, including some reports of links to psychosis. Between June 2022 and February 2024, Czechia’s Toxicology Information Centre recorded over 170 consultations on HHC. Many of the cases involved young people, including children, who had consumed edibles, such as jelly sweets.”
Authors cautioned that data may underestimate true usage levels due to the sensitive nature of discussing illegal drug use, particularly in countries where cannabis remains prohibited.
*Some data supplied to the EUDA report came from 2023
