UN drugs report: at a glance A survey of young people in England revealed 8 per cent of 15-24 year-olds had "abused" illegal substances, compared to an average of 5 per cent across Europe. The figure was 16 per cent in Ireland. Retail outlets specialising in selling new psychoactive substances have "rapidly emerged" in Europe, with 136 Internet retail sites selling new psychoactive substances, most of which are based in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. MDMA (ecstasy) use has fallen across Europe due to a crack down on chemical 3,4-MDP-2-P, but there are fears the fall may be temporary as a "trend" is emerging in the UK for using new chemicals known as "piperazine derivatives." Drug-related deaths in the UK decreased by 6.2 per cent from 2008 to 2009 and the number of deaths caused by cocaine fell sharply in 2009 after peaking in 2008. In 2011, The UK Government was among several that did not provide drug statistics to the UN "in a timely manner." The UN Board has "contacted the Governments concerned and requested them to rectify the situation." How should Britain's drug problem be tackled?