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Crystal meth use hits record level

DPA/The Local
DPA/The Local - [email protected]
Crystal meth use hits record level
Crystal meth seized in Bavaria. Photo: DPA

Consumption of crystal meth in Germany appears to have reached a record level, according to government figures published on Thursday.

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The number of people using the drug for the first time rose seven percent last year, while police found 77 kilogrammes of the highly-addictive drug in 2013. That was up from three percent the year before and 88 percent on 2011.

In 2005, before the drug became so popular, police seized just six kilogrammes.

"We are concerned about the increase in consumption of crystal as taking this substance has major health risks," Joerg Zierke from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) said.

According to the figures published on Thursday by the government, police confiscated the drug on 3,847 occasions in 2013.

It is the eighth year in a row where crystal meth consumption has increased.

The biggest finds were around the Czech border, but the government’s commissioner for drug related issues warned in March that it was spreading to other parts of the country, particularly Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Bavaria and Thuringia.

A study commissioned by the health ministry which was released last month also found children as young as 11 had taken the drug.

SEE ALSO: Germany nabs Vatican-bound cocaine condoms

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