drug

Romania is not a major source of narcotics, but it remains an important transit country for the drugs on the Northern Balkans route, according to a 2009 narcotics report released by the U.S. State Department Tuesday.

Romania's capital Bucharest had between 17,000 and 24,000 injected drug users in 2009, the leader of the presidential committee analyzing social and demographic risks, Marian Preda, said Friday.

Romanian Presidential Committee for the Analysis of Social and Demographic Risks proposes, in a report launched Tuesday, the disincrimination of drug consumption and the legalization of prostitution, claiming this would reduce, under certain conditions, several public health risks.

The youngest age stated by a respondent, when asked when they started to use cannabis, was 11, but 76.6% of users stated starting ages below 24, according to the Romanian National Report on Drug Consumption, presented Thursday in Bucharest.

One Bucharest citizen, wanted for 13 years by Australian authorities under charges of running a network that organized at least 18 transports of cocaine from Latin America to Australia, was arrested by Romanian border police on a street in Bucharest.

A Bucharest citizen, considered the largest cannabis dealer, was arrested under charges of producing and selling on the Romanian black market over 150 kilograms of cannabis and byproducts, thus obtaining an approximate profit of EUR150,000, the Romanian Police said Thursday.