Romania ranks 47th out of 50 countries by cost of drugs

Romania ranks 47th in the ranking of the 50 most affordable markets that are the subject of the latest Bloomberg Global Vice Index, an annual drug cost analysis.

The index follows the price of a "vice basket" made up of four generic drug groups: opioids, cocaine, cannabis and amphetamine-type stimulants.

Americans should pay USD 846 for a "basket of vice," the third highest price in the world after New Zealand and Australia, local Mediafax reported. In Romania, the basket costs only USD 193. But the average weekly income is only USD 234, while in the US the average weekly income is USD 1,202. This makes the drugs less affordable in Romania, where the “vice basket” accounts for 82.1% of the weekly wage, compared to some 70% in the US.

The ratio in Romania is higher than that in Bulgaria, which ranks 46th with a basket price (USD 138) to weekly wage (USD 175) ratio of 79%. Hungary ranks 36th, with a 47.1% ratio: USD 145 dollars to USD 308.

In Luxembourg, drugs are the most affordable (1st place, with a basket cost of USD 197 and a weekly wage of 2,191), followed by the Netherlands with the cheapest basket of USD 93 and USD 1,018 weekly wage. The top 10 of the countries where it is cheapest to do drugs is completed by Uruguay, Costa Rica, Chile, Norway, Switzerland, France, Germany and Iceland.

The study, say the authors, is just an economic indicator and does not discuss issues of morality or legality.

A recent report revealed that the Romanian narcotics police seized 11 kg of high-risk drugs and arrested five people in a large-scale international operation carried out last year in cooperation with the German authorities. In fact, this was the largest quantity of drugs seized last year by the Romanian Police during a single operation, local News.roreported. The operation targeted the dismantling of a criminal group that was distributing large quantities of drugs, especially in nightclubs in Bucharest.

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