Which drugs do you want to know about?

(JB) Interest in cannabis and heroin in Luxembourg has grown, according to a drug awareness hotline.

39% of queries received by the Fro No or Ask us service, run by Luxembourg's anti-addiction service CePT, were for information about cannabis.

At the same time, 26% of calls and emails to the service were by people wishing to know about heroin.

The statistics for 2010 show that interest in and awareness about these drugs jumped from the year before when just 36% of queries were about cannabis and 18% concerned heroin.

The most commonly queried drug, according to the organisation, was alcohol, accounting for 70% of inquiries in 2009 and 53% in 2010.

The results were published by CePT on Tuesday at a conference to showcase their work in raising awareness about the dangers of using addictive substances.

The organisation, which celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2010, underlined the challenges it faces with new drugs coming onto the market each year. For example, in 2009, the relatively new drug Spice, designed to give a marijuana-like high when smoked, was the subject of 5% of queries but did not feature in any questions the following year. Another kind of drug which the organisation is focusing on is the use of legal addictive drugs such as sleeping pills.

CePT director Thérèse Michaelis said: “There are always new drugs coming out. We're always catching up because of the world we live in. There's a lot of leisure time and so many drugs are available. That's why we remain loyal to our educational objectives. What's important is that people are aware and informed and are able to make their own educated choices.”

Among its projects for 2010, CePT ran an awareness-raising campaign about alcohol abuse among under 16-year-olds, it offered workshops in primary schools, with teachers and students, it distributed a drug consumption questionnaire at major music festivals in Luxembourg, it released a video and rolled out an addiction programme working with prisoners.

CePT is the only organisation of its kind in Luxembourg, aimed at informing people about drug addiction and working with other bodies to find solutions. Its website, which contains resources for parents, teachers and young people, received some 20,399 hits in 2010, of which nearly 60% of clicks were from new visitors.