The Czech Republic Annual Report 2010 Drug ... - Drogy-info.cz

cannabis, especially among adolescents and young adults, is also confirmed by data from general population
surveys; see the chapter on Drug Use in the General Population (p. 28).
The greatest number of people demanding treatment in 2010 stated that they were injecting drug users, followed by
smoking (13.9%) and inhaling/snorting (12.3%).
In 2010, those making their first treatment demands reported the daily use of drugs in 1,308 cases (30.0%); an
additional 1,013 users (23.2%) used a drug 2–6 times per week. Heroin was most frequently used daily by newly
recorded users (54.8%). Pervitin was used on a daily basis by 23.7% of people demanding treatment for the first
time; the most widely-reported frequency of use of pervitin was 2–6 times per week (27.8%). All those making
treatment demands reported the daily use of drugs in 2,731 cases (30.3%); an additional 1,930 users (21.4%) used
a drug 2–6 times per week. Among all heroin users in treatment, about half of those demanding treatment reported
daily use. Among pervitin users, a lower frequency of use was more common, at several times per week (25.4%) as
opposed to daily use (21.9%). The majority of buprenorphine users (63.3%) also reported daily drug use in their
demand for treatment (Studničková and Petrášová, 2011).
The socioeconomic characteristics of those demanding treatment have changed little over the past years. Out of the
total of 9,005 treatment demands in 2010, 13.6% were from homeless people and another 9.7% were from people
residing in institutions (e.g. prisons, institutional care, hostels, or sheltered housing); only 45.3% gave a permanent
address. A third of all registered drug users in treatment live with their parents; 21.3% of all clients in treatment stated
that they live alone, with 19.3% of newly registered clients living alone; 666 drug users in treatment (7.4%) stated that
they live with children (for more information on the issue of drug-using parents and pregnant drug users see the
selected issue chapter on Drug Users with Children, p. 148). The number of people without a permanent home is
significantly greater among repeatedly treated and long-term drug users than among those demanding treatment for
the first time. The percentage of homeless people has been increasing among all clients and first-time demands
since 2006 (Studničková and Petrášová, 2011).
More than a half of treatment demands were from unemployed people or people with temporary jobs (57.0%). A total
of 13.4% of first-time treatment demands and 16.0% of all treatment demands were from people who stated they
had regular employment. Nearly half of treatment demands were from people who had just a basic education, and
45.4% had completed secondary school (Studničková and Petrášová, 2011).
In 2010, 8,232 treatment demands (91.4% of all treatment demands) and 3,827 first treatment demands (87.7%)
were from drug users classified under the definition of problem users 80 . There is a persistently high share of injecting
drug users among treatment demands – a total of 6,284 demands (69.8% of all demands) and 2,695 first-time
demands (61.8%) stated that they were injecting drug users, a slight increase compared to 2009. Trends for selected
characteristics among those demanding treatment are shown in Figure 5-7 and Figure 5-8. Further information about
injecting drug users among those demanding treatment is provided in the chapter on Risk Behaviour of Drug Users
(p. 90).
As was the case in 2009, the typical profile for a client in treatment in 2010 is an unemployed male of Czech
nationality between 25 and 30 years of age, who has completed his basic education, from Prague or Central
Bohemia, with a permanent place of residence, living alone or with his parents, and using stimulants (pervitin). He
uses the drug several times per week, mostly by injecting.
80
The EMCDDA defines problem drug use as injecting drug use and/or the long-term/regular use of opiates and/or amphetamine-type
drugs and/or cocaine (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2009). Cocaine use in the Czech Republic is at a very
low level. The prevalence of problem cocaine use has not been estimated; for more information see the chapter on Problem Drug Use
(p. 48).
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