In 2022, the police made a total of 418 findings of drug possession at school, compared to 232 the year before. “Although these figures are difficult to compare, given distance learning in 2020 and 2021 due to the corona crisis,” said CD&V MP Franky Demon. “If we compare the figures with those of 2019, the last year before corona, a slight improvement is noticeable. In 2019 there were still 533 cases. But every finding is one too many.”
Complete figures are not yet available for 2023. In the first quarter of last year, 134 detections were made, which means that the number of detections appears to remain stable compared to 2022. The vast majority of detections of drug possession at school take place in secondary schools, with most cases (305) involving possession of cannabis. used to be.
The province of Limburg has been a leader for many years in terms of the number of drug possession findings at school. In 2022 there were 75 cases. Other leaders are Antwerp and East Flanders, with 72 and 66 cases respectively. The Brussels Region is striking, where only 14 cases of drug possession at school were identified in 2022. Demon suspects that there is a higher dark number in the capital. “We know that the police in the capital have to make choices regarding the priority use of their capacity. This may partly explain the lower figures.”
