Greece

Greece is a southern European nation bordering the Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Greece is not a major drug-producing nation; however, it is a gateway to Europe for traffickers smuggling cannabis and heroin from the Middle East and southwest Asia to the West.

According to EKTEPN, the National Center for Documentation and Information on Drugs, in 2000, Greece had one of the highest hard drug (mostly heroin) user rates per 1,000 inhabitants in the European Union (EU). In 2000 EKTEPN also found that 12.2 percent of the Greek population reported having used some illegal substance (mostly cannabis). EKTEPN reported that, from 1993 to 2003, there was an increase in systematic use of illicit drugs, an upward trend in arrests ...