Czech Republic
Country profile
Czech Republic
Population | 10.3 million |
|---|---|
Capital city | Prague |
GDP per capita | 12,498 ECU (PPS) in 1999 (PPS) (Eurostat) 59% of EU-15 average (1999) |
Drug strategy
In 2000, the government approved the 2001-2004 National Drug Policy Strategy, which corresponds to the 2000-2004 EU Action Plan for Combating Drugs. Its four basic pillars are prevention, treatment and resocialization, harm reduction and law enforcement.
Trends
The popularity of marijuana use has been constantly increasing in the Czech Republic, especially among the youngest population. Together with an increase in popularity of ‘dance music’, the number of people using ecstasy has also increased in recent years. In regard to problem drug use, an increase in heroin use and a simultaneous decrease in domestic metamphetamine-pervitin use has been observed.
Drug use among the general population
A Health and Addictive Behaviour Survey carried out in 1999 among the general population aged 15-64 showed that 16.4% of interviewees reported a lifetime experience with cannabis, 1% with amphetamines, 0.5 with opiates, 1.7% for hallucinogens and 0.9 with ecstasy. The same survey had also been carried out in 1996 and 1997. Comparison of the results with the most recent survey suggested only a small change in the extent of drug use among the general population. Lifetime use of cannabis increased by 2% in comparison to 1996. For the other drugs the change was less than 2%. Results from a 2002 Citizens and the Drugs survey show a significant increase in the use of ecstasy (lifetime prevalence 4.5%) and cannabis (18.8%), the use of ‘hard drugs’ remains relatively low (1.9%).
Drug use among young people
When comparing the results of national school surveys conducted between 1994 and 2000 among 16 years old students, it becomes evident that since 1994 the popularity of cannabis use has been increasing. Lifetime prevalence rates of cannabis were 35.4% in 2000 in comparison to 23.3% in 1994 (MAD, Youth and Drugs Study, 1994 and 2000). The increase in use of opiates (from 1.1% in 1994 to 3.6% in 2000) and amphetamines (2.8% in 1994 to 8.1% in 2000) are of particular concern. Since the end of 1990´s a differentiation could be seen in experience with and attitudes towards drugs among the students: on one hand, opiates and pervitin use have shown stagnation in the lifetime prevalence, while on the other hand, the use of marihuana, ecstasy and hallucinogens has further increased.
Prevention programmes in schools
Since 1998 ‘Minimal Preventative Programmes’ under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports have been implemented in all primary, secondary and high schools, aiming to incorporate prevention measures into school life and education.
Treatment demand and problem drug use
The use of pervitin and heroin are associated with the most severe drug-related consequences in the Czech Republic. It is estimated that there are 22,500 pervitin users and 15,000 heroin users of which over 80% report injecting drug use. In recent years there has been an increase in heroin use, pervitin has stagnated or even decreased according to first treatment demand indicators. Despite this trend, pervitin and other stimulants remain the most frequently reported primary drug among first treatment demands (47.8% in 2001). Opiates represent the second most frequently reported group of primary drugs (28.7% of first treatment demands) followed by cannabis (17.6% of first treatment demands).
Treatment responses
According to estimates, approximately 40% of users are in contact with institutions that provide treatment services, especially low-threshold services. A network of abstinence oriented programs operated by state health facilities fairly cover needs at local and national levels. It is complemented by services offered by NGOs. Substitution treatment is available in the Czech Republic, however the current provision of services does not meet the demands for such treatment because it only covers approximately 3% of opiate users.
Health consequences
HIV prevalence among IDUs remained consistently below 1% in the Czech Republic between 1996 and 2001. Available serological overviews suggest that about 30% of IDUs in contact with low-threshold services are infected with HCV and about 10% with HBV. Seroprevalence of HCV and HBV in long-term IDUs (in substitution tretment) is higher, 70% and 50% respectively. About 50 deaths due to heroin overdoses of heroin were reported annually during the last four years.
Harm reduction responses
Harm reduction of drug-related health and social risks is one of the four pillars of the 2001–2004 National Drug Policy Strategy. Mainly through a network of low-threshold services, harm reduction services are provided for drug users. The majority are operated by NGOs, which offer exchange of injection materials, counselling, information and referral. It is estimated that more than 50% of injection users in the Czech Republic make use of needle and syringe exchange programs.
Reports on the drugs situation
National reports
National report 2002 – Czech Republic | 
– 2 310 KB |- Report on the Drug Situation 2001 – Czech Republic | – 1.023 KB |
- 2000 National Report on the drugs situation – Czech Republic | – 2.931 KB |
- 1999 Summary Report on the drugs situation – Czech Republic | – 1.814 KB |
- 1998 National Report on the drugs situation – Czech Republic | – 1.285 KB |
Other documents
- Impact Analysis Project of New Drugs Legislation | – 213 KB |
- National Drug Policy Strategy 2001 – 2004 | – 1.447 KB |
Manual of CRM prevalence estimate study | – 172 KB |- Manual of Seroprevalence HCV in IDUs study | – 150 KB |
Disclaimer © European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2002
The texts, reports and publications in this section have been provided by the candidate countries’ national focal points. The findings, conclusions and interpretations in these documents are those of the authors alone and do not represent the policy of the EMCDDA, its partners, any EU Member State or any agency or institution of the European Union or European Communities.
documents in English | documents in national language
Related websites
- European Commission: Enlargement: Czech Republic – This page provides an introduction to the Czech Republic’s country profile, an overview of of key documents related to enlargement, press releases and interesting links.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/czech/index.htm - Úøad vlády Èeské republiky – The Office of the Czech Republic Government
http://www.vlada.cz/ - Drogové informaèní centrum
http://www.sananim.cz/ - Neuropsychofarmakologie a prevence drogových závislostí
http://www.lf3.cuni.cz/drogy/ - Methadonova substituce
http://www.methadone.cz/ - Sdruzeni Podane ruce
http://www.podaneruce.cz - STÁTNÍ ZDRAVOTNÍ ÚSTAV – National Institute of Public Health
http://www.szu.cz/ - EXTC – Podane ruce Brno
http://www.extc.cz/ - Oficiální webové stránky Národního programu boje proti AIDS v CR
http://www.aids-hiv.cz
documents in English | documents in national language | bilingual websites
The country profiles were produced by the EMCDDA in collaboration with National Focal Points in the acceding and candidate countries and were primarily based on their 2002 National Reports on the drugs situation. Due to the existing incompleteness of the epidemiological data provided, the information given should not be used for comparison of the drug situation between countries. They constitute separate sources of basic information on the drug situation in each country. In addition, estimates for individual indicators (i.e. treatment demand indicator) presented in the profiles may not be representative of the population they refer to and should be interpreted with caution. Efforts will be undertaken to improve comparability, compatibility with EMCDDA standards and to update the profiles on a regular basis.