Drug use and gambling in the Czech Republic above EU average, says police chief

Czechs are above the EU average when it comes to drug use and are the third on its list of alcohol consumption, the Director of the National Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction Viktor Mravčík told journalists at a press conference on Wednesday. Mr. Mravčík said problems stemming from the use of legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco cost the country tens of billions of crowns in health and social problems damages.

According to experts around 800,000 Czechs regularly drink excessive amounts of alcohol and more than a quarter of the population aged 15 and over smoke. Marihuana use among the young is the third highest in the EU after Italy and France, while intravenous drug use is on the country is only surpassed by Latvia. The amount of slot machines per 1,000 citizens is the second highest after Italy.

The 2019 – 2027 National Strategy for Combating Drug Use, which was unveiled at the press conference, is mainly focused on informing the population about the impact and risks of drugs as well as on their prevention.