HZJZ: The Highest Number of Treated Addicts in Zadar County

In Croatia, as well as in the whole of Europe, cannabis was the main and most prevalent illegal drug last year, followed by amphetamines in second place, and among opioids, heroin was the most commonly used, according to data from the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ), which shows that the highest number of treated addicts in 2017 was in Zadar County.

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The youngest person who experimented with psychoactive drugs was 13, while the oldest recorded addict was as much as 76 years old.

In 2017, 958 people were treated for the first time, with nearly five times more men than women undergoing treatment, and the population dependent on opioids is aging, as shown by the Report on Persons Treated for Psychoactive Drug Abuse in Croatia in 2017, which is based on available data received from the health system.

For the whole of Croatia, the rate of treated drug addicts is 248.3 (248.3 persons per 100,000 inhabitants aged 15 to 64 years). As many as seven counties have a higher rate of addicts than the Croatian average, led by Zadar County (496.2), followed by Istria (495.9), Šibenik-Knin (449.7), the City of Zagreb (366.7), Primorje-Gorski Kotar (342.5), Split-Dalmatia (331.9), and Dubrovnik-Neretva (246.3). Other counties had rates lower than the Croatian average.

The situation is similar with the number of addicts treated for opioids, with the highest number in Zadar County (485.4), followed by Istria (432.8), Šibenik-Knin (431.1), Primorje-Gorski Kotar (326.2), Split-Dalmatia (284.3), the City of Zagreb (261.4), and Dubrovnik-Neretva County (214.1). For the whole of Croatia, the rate was 200.3, and compared to the previous year (2016), there was no significant change in the ranking of counties.

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Very similarly to the previous year, among those treated for addiction, the largest number of individuals had completed secondary education, accounting for 67.6 percent of those treated for opioid abuse.

Most of the treated individuals, as in previous years, lived with their primary family, and 37.6 percent of treated addicts had children.

Experimentation with psychoactive substances has been starting at around 16 years of age for many years. The first use of heroin typically occurs at the age of 20, and the first intravenous use at 21.

Parents of heroin addicts most often learn about the addiction problem after two to three years of addictive behavior.

In Europe, the use of ecstasy is on the rise

The European Drug Report shows that ecstasy is becoming increasingly popular, that cocaine is more consumed in Western and Southern European countries, and that amphetamines are more used in Northern and Eastern Europe.

In many European countries, there are more and more individuals seeking treatment for amphetamine abuse and addiction, with nearly half using them intravenously.

The report also states that cannabis occupies the largest share of the value of the illegal European drug market, and cannabis production has thus become the main revenue generator for organized crime.

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Crimes related to cannabis account for about three-quarters of all drug-related offenses, and estimates suggest that about one percent of adults in Europe use cannabis daily or almost daily.

Among the new psychoactive drugs that have appeared on the international market, very toxic synthetic cannabinoids are also prevalent, which are linked to 13 deaths and 23 non-fatal poisonings in eight European countries last year. The powerful psychostimulant, synthetic cathinone alpha-PVP, is associated with nearly 200 acute intoxications and over 100 deaths. Their consumers, the report states, mostly do not even know what they have taken or how it will affect them.

The report also warns of the significant threat posed by the increasing supply of drugs over the internet, which is very difficult to control.