the national policy toward alcohol and substance use among adults and juveniles - czech republic

Verwey-Jonker Instituut

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AAA PREVENT

WP 4

The national policy toward alcohol and substance use among adults and juveniles - Czech Republic

Petra Anýžová, Jiří Buriánek, Zuzana Podaná

Correspondence to: Zuzana Podaná [[email protected]]

Department of Sociology: Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague

Celetna 20, 116 42, Prague 1, Czech Republic

Abstract:

The Czech Republic, compared to other European countries, has rather liberal policy for use

of alcohol; on the other hand, drug policy is more restrictive. Currently, the Czech Republic

belongs to the ten top alcohol consumers in Europe. The percentage of Czech adults who use

alcohol is one of the highest in Europe, similarly the level of alcohol, tobacco and soft drug

use is relatively high among youngsters in the Czech Republic and problematic drinking

(e.g. binge drinking) in youths is worrying. In the current paper, we describe figures on sub-

stance use among Czech adults and youngsters and we elaborate on the policy regarding alco-

hol and drugs. In addition, we describe the Czech culture attitude towards substance use. We

end with some conclusions and questions for future research.


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A. Introduction

Statistics of the Czech republic

Total population (2009) 10.490.000

Total population in the Capital Prague (2009) 1.250.000

Expanse of the country 78.900 km2

Population density 130 /km2

Gross national income per capita (USD) / year 2006 13.882

Gross national income per capita (USD) / year 2009 18.135

Gross national income per capita (PPS) / year 2009 18.960

The Czech Republic is a small-sized country with approximately 10.5 million of inhabitants

living on 79.000 square kilometres with population density of 130 persons on square kilome-

tre. The Czech Republic is a pluralist multi-party parliamentary representative democracy

lying in Central Europe and it has been a member of NATO since 1999 and of the European

Union since 2004. The Czech Republic is also a member of the Organization for Security and

Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Population of the Czech Republic is rather tolerant to use of alcohol - currently the Czech

Republic belongs to the ten top alcohol consumers in Europe. In spite of the fact that the

Czech Republic has formally joined European Alcohol Action Plan with the main goal to pre-

vent and reduce harm caused by alcohol, the consumption of alcohol constantly increases.

In the last few decades, average alcohol consumption has equally increased in the Czech Re-

public and in 2006 recorded per capita consumption amounted to 10.2 litres of pure alcohol

(almost per adult capita consumption 15 litres of pure alcohol). From 1989 to 2008 per capita

consumption had increased by 7 litres of alcohol (by 2 litres of pure alcohol). Moreover, al-

most quarter of men and tenth of women use alcohol in risky way (IHIS CR, 2006)1. This trend

is in contrast with decrease of alcohol consumption in West Europe.

Beer is the most popular alcohol beverage constituting more than half of recorded adult alco-

hol consumption. In 2006 there was reported per capita consumption amounted 159 litres of

beer and only 17 litres of wine and 8 litres of spirits.

With increasing alcohol consumption at the same time significantly increased prices of alcohol

beverages, in total by 151 %. The highest price increase concerns to beer.

1 Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic (IHIS CR). Sample Survey of the Health Status

and Live Style of the Population in the Czech Republic Focused on Drug Abuse. October 2006. Prague [www.úzis.cz].


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The Czech Republic puts emphasis on primary prevention with the main goal to choose life-

style without drugs in adolescence period. According to experts, efforts to improve popula-

tion’s state of health should be related to efforts to decrease alcohol consumption, not only

to promote moderate consumption (Csémy, Sovinová - National Institute of Public Health).

Table 1: Consumption of alcohol beverages and cigarettes (annual per capita averages),

expenditures of households (annual per capita expenditures from income)

01 ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, CIGARETTESUnit

(liters)1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

01.1 ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES a liters 181,1 185,6 185,3 184,2 184,3 181,3 184,4 186,4 184,6 188,1 184,3 185,8

(a - total, b - in terms of pure alcohol) b liters 9,5 9,8 9,8 9,9 9,9 9,9 10,0 10,2 9,8 10,2 10,2 10,4

Spirits (40%) a liters 8 8,3 8,2 8,3 8,3 8,2 8,3 8,4 7,6 7,8 8,0 8,2

b liters 3,2 3,3 3,3 3,3 3,3 3,3 3,3 3,4 3,0 3,1 3,2 3,3

Wine a liters 15,8 15,9 16 16,1 16,1 16,2 16,2 16,3 16,5 16,8 17,2 18,5

b liters 1,8 1,9 1,9 2 2 2,0 1,9 1,9 1,9 1,9 2,0 2,1

Beer, total a liters 157,3 161,4 161,1 159,8 159,9 156,9 159,9 161,7 160,5 163,5 159,1 159,1

b liters 4,5 4,6 4,6 4,6 4,6 4,6 4,8 4,9 4,9 5,2 5,0 5,0

01.2 CIGARETTES pieces 2165 2354 1852 2090 1882 1664 1893 2192 2243 2275 2338 2345

01.3 EXPENDITURES of households % N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. 3,3 3,1 3,1 3 2,9 2,9 2,9 2,9

Source of Information: Czech Statistical Office (Annual Report 2009)

B. State of the art: How big is this problem in the Czech Republic?

1. Alcohol use among adults (official data)

Consumption habits of the adult population of the Czech Republic aged 18 to 64 years, tradi-

tionally tolerant to drinking alcohol, correspond with the low proportion of abstainers. Only

11 % men and 28 % women declared lifetime abstinence in 2002, 6 % men and 14 % women in

2006, 9 % men and 23 % women in 2008 (especially in the age group 35 – 44 and 18 – 24).

74 % adult population drank alcohol in the last 30 days and 87 % in the last year. The larger

number (over one third) of respondents drank „once a month or less“, a slightly lower number

drank „2 – 4 times a month“. Higher frequency of drinking was reported by men. Feeling

drunk at least once in their life was reported by 77 % population, of whom one half got drunk

for the first time at age lower than 18 years. Excessive alcohol doses on one occasion were

consumed by 63 % adult population (IHIS CR, 2006).2

2 Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic (IHIS CR). Sample Survey of the Health Status

and Live Style of the Population in the Czech Republic Focused on Drug Abuse. October 2006. Prague [www.úzis.cz].

The report of survey presents the results of the questionnaire survey from the year 2004 named Sample Survey of the

Health Status and Life Style of the Population of the Czech Republic focused on drug abuse. The survey was per-


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Table 2: Structure of respondents by consumption in % (abstainers, month prevalence,

last year prevalence – gender, age groups)

Age Never drank In last 30 days More than 12 months

Males

18 - 24 7.0 83.6 1.0

25 - 34 5.3 87.4 1.0

35 – 44 7.3 82.7 2.2

45 – 54 6.6 81.8 2.9

55 – 64 5.4 79.3 5.4

Total 6.3 83.2 2.4

Females

18 - 24 10.1 71.5 2.4

25 - 34 11.1 70.4 2.6

35 - 44 12.5 66.1 2.5

45 – 54 11.9 65.2 5.4

55 - 64 24.7 48.5 8.6

Total 13.6 64.9 4.2

Source of Information: Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic (IHIS CR) –

2006.

According to the study of Health and National Institute of Public Health (1996)3 42 % men and

20 % women constituted a category of risky users4 in 1996. In 1999, 24 % adult men and 11 %

women fell into the category of risky alcohol consumption according to CIDI study of IHIS CR5.

In 2006 IHIS CR reported risky alcohol consumption about 25 % men and 6 % women. Tendency

to risky daily alcohol consumption have men often rather than women (IHIS 2001, 2006).

In 1990 133 men to 100.000 inhabitants and 35 women to 100.000 inhabitants were hospital-

ized with alcohol addiction. In 1999 137 men to 100.000 inhabitants and 51 women to 100.000

inhabitants were hospitalized with alcohol addiction. In 2001 146 men to 100.000 inhabitants

and 55 women to 100.000 inhabitants were hospitalized with alcohol addiction. In total, in

2001 11.000 people were hospitalized and 27.000 people were treated as an out-patient as a

formed by IHIS CR in collaboration with INRES – SONES association on sample of 3.526 respondents aged 18 – 64 years.

The survey was adjusted and supplemented according to comments of the NMS workgroup.

3 Csémy L, Sovinová H. 1996. Health and harmful habits in the Czech Republic – representative survey of adult popu-

lation aged 18 – 64 years. Prague: Health and National Institute of Public Health.

4 Men consume more than 40 ml of pure alcohol daily on average and women consume more than 20 ml of pure alco-

hol daily.

5 National probability survey of mental health and comorbidity in population aged 18 and over (International Consor-

tium in Psychiatric Epidemiology) in cooperation with Prague Psychiatric Centre.


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result of alcohol addiction (IHIS CR 2001) 6. While in 2006 approximately 140.000 risky and

addicted alcohol consumers were reported (almost 2 % of adult population)7, in 2010 this

number increased to 550.000 – 7 % of adult population (Csémy 2010).

Prevalence of drug abuse in the last year was 10.4 %. Among so-called „young adults“ every

fifth respondent (21.2 %) took some psychoactive substance in the last year (Annual Report,

The Czech Republic, 2006 Drug Situation).

Tables from the Template

Table 3: Alcohol use among adults (official data) – IHIS CR, 2006

6 Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic (IHIS CR). Health Care about patients taking

psychoactive substances in out-patient establishments in the Czech republic in the year 2001. Prague [www.úzis.cz]

7 An estimate on the basis of questionnaire AUDIT which was used in population survey “Opinions of citizens about

health and health service” in 2006 (N = 2.326, 18 – 64 years).

Adults Total Male Female

Alcohol consumption (def:

pure alcohol in litres a year)

litres

10.2 N.A. N.A.

Alcohol use last year - % 87 % 91 % 82 %

Alcohol use last month - % 75 % 83 % 65 %

Abstainers-alcohol ever - % 10 % 6 % 14 %

Binge drinking (drinking more

than 6 glasses at a time) - % 63 % 75 % 45 %

Heavy drinkers (def: three

drinks a day, five drinks on

occasion at least once a

week) - %

14 % 21 % 5 %

Problematic drinkers (def:

DSM-IV; ICD-10) - % 1.4 % N.A. N.A.

Treated as an

out-patient/commitment 0.3% / 0.1 % 0.07 % 0.03 %


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2. Alcohol and substance use among youngsters

No representative survey focusing on alcohol and drug use among the school population was

carried out in the Czech Republic in 2004 – 2006. Data about 16 and 18-year-old students are

taken from the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) carried

out in 2003 and in 2007. Altogether 3.172 students aged 15 – 16 years and 3.388 students aged

18 years were involved in the survey.

The outcomes of the Czech part of the SAHA international project - Risk Factors of the

School, Social and Health Development of Youth – were published for the first time in 2004.

The Institute of Psychology of the Academy of Science of the Czech Republic in Brno, in col-

laboration with the Children Psychiatric Clinic at the 2nd Medical Faculty in Prague, were the

main coordinators of the survey carried out in the Czech Republic at the end of 2003. Alto-

gether, 4.876 elementary and secondary school students in three age cohorts (12, 14 and 16

years) participated in the study; in this report we focused on 12-year-olds cohort of 1.447

students. The research was only carried out in the Czech regional metropoles (42.5 % of the

respondents were from Prague), so the survey, therefore, included only urban youth and can-

not be considered a nationally representative school survey.

In the Czech Republic approximately 25 % 16-year-old children smoke cigarettes and 8 % are

heavy smokers (they smoke more than 11 cigarettes daily). Proportion of daily smokers have

moderately decreased between 2003 and 2007, this concerns boys primarily (number of fe-

male daily smokers slightly increased).

The consumption of alcohol beverages has not changed so much during the last decade and

consumption of alcohol among young people is still worrying in the Czech Republic. Almost 77

% Czech students have drunk alcohol in the last 30 days and excessive doses of alcohol have

consumed 47 % students in the last month.

The majority of children of school age reported their first experience with alcohol use be-

tween 11 and 13 years. This experience is connected with family celebrations very often

where parents allow children to drink small amount of alcohol, it is a rare occasion in this

age.

Risky forms of alcohol consumption (like drinking more than three glasses at a time, overdos-

es, drunkenness) appears at the age of 15 years frequently. As for repeated drunkenness of

boys there are only negligible changes between 1998 and 2006, nevertheless risky forms of

alcohol consumption with girls have considerably increased. As for excessive drinking girls

approximate boys and in 2006 reported these experiences almost 30 – 40 % 15-year-old stu-

dents.


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In 2007 46 % students between 15 – 16 years age reported any experience with illicit drugs. The

most frequent experience is use of marijuana – this drug has already been consumed by 45 %

students (lifetime prevalence). 9 % students reported use of sedative drugs, 5 % use of LSD and

Ecstasy and 3 % use of Amphetamines. Experiences with Heroin and Cocaine are minimal in the

population of 16-year-old students. In comparison with previous years, in 2007 there was

noticed improvement in the situation of use illicit drugs among Czech students. Compared to

2003, there was a decrease in experience with illicit drugs (especially harder drugs) with the

exception of cannabis in the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic still remains above

European average level of alcohol consumption and drug use, primarily lifetime prevalence of

marijuana consumption is the highest in the Europe for now.

Table 4: Development of the alcohol consumption among youngsters (15/16 year-old) –

in % (last year prevalence, binge drinking, lifetime prevalence of drug use atc.)

Development of the alcohol consumption among youngsters (15/16 - year-old) – in %

1995 1999 2003 2007

Use of alcohol last year

91 94 95 97

Binge drinking 38 43 47 52

Lifetime use of cigarettes

74 79 80 78

Any illicit drug 25 38 46 46

Soft drugs 22 35 44 45

Hard drugs 4 9 11 9

Source of Information: European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) - 2007


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Table 5: Alcohol and substance use among youngsters

Youngsters 2004 (SAHA)

N = 1.447

2003 (ESPAD)

N = 3.172

2003 (ESPAD)

N = 3.388

12 years 15 - 16 years 17 - 18 years

Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female

Alcohol ever - % 48 54 41 98 98 98 92 93 90

Alcohol last month -

% 19 21 16 77 76 77 78 84 72

Alcohol last year - % N.A. N.A. N.A. 93 92 95 90 92 88

Drunk last month - % 15

(last

year)

22

(last

year)

18

(last

year)

39 44 36 53 79 34

Binge drinking (dur-

ing the last 30 days)

- %

13 13 10 47 54 41 42 64 25

Alcohol disorder

(def: DSM-IV or ICD-

10) - %

N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A.

Smoking cigarette –

smoking in the last

month - %

28 28 27 43 43 43 43 50 37

Any illicit drug - % 8 8 7 46 48 43 56 61 53

Soft drugs - % 11 12 10 44 48 40 56 62 51

Any illicit drug other

than cannabis life-

time use - %

(XTC, Amphetamine,

LSD, Heroin or Co-

caine etc.)

3 3 1 11 11 11 17 19 15

Abstainers ever - % 53 46 59 2 2 1 N.A. N.A. N.A.


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C. Policy toward alcohol and drugs: A policy-typology and description

In general, three approaches can be distinguished in alcohol policy: supply reduction, demand

reduction and harm reduction (Garretsen & van der Goor, 2007). In supply reduction, the aim

is to influence the supply of alcohol and to decrease the availability of alcohol. Laws and

regulations exist with respect to the sale of alcohol, the legal age for purchasing alcohol, and

advertising (spelled out in the Licensing and Catering Act, and a code of advertising and

agreements in the alcoholic beverage industry). Demand reduction aims to influencing the

demand side. Education is of importance here. Programs are often aimed at drinking norms,

beliefs and attitudes. A fairly permissive stance toward alcohol use among adolescents can

also be reflected in school policies. The harm reduction approach is not directed to drinking

itself but to the prevention of alcohol related problems. Examples are related to alcohol use

in traffic, to the use of toughened glasses in bars, etc. Harm reduction tries to achieve signif-

icant reduction in levels of alcohol problems.

1. Alcohol policy in the Czech Republic

The Czech alcohol policy takes place in a specific cultural setting and is also adopted and

enforced in the context of people’s views on alcohol policy. As a part of EU countries, the

Czech Republic does have an Action plan for alcohol (National Drug Policy Strategy 2005 –

2009). Major goals of the policy are stabilizing a number of problem users, decreasing con-

sumption of alcohol among under age users and limiting the harmful consequences of alcohol.

The Czech Republic has a number of laws and other policies that set alcohol apart from other

goods traded in its territory, often for reasons of public health. We have school-based educa-

tion programs, drink-driving restriction (zero tolerance of blood alcohol limit for drivers),

business restrictions which prohibit the sale of alcohol to young people beneath a certain age

(18 year) in bars and pubs, etc. Alcohol marketing is controlled to different degrees depend-

ing on the type of marketing activity.


Table 6: Policy toward alcohol (alcohol use regulations by law, practical imple-mentation of norms)

Policy toward alcohol No Yes P. – soft drugs No Yes

Zero tolerance 1 0 Zero tolerance 1 0

Harm reduction 0 1 Harm reduction 0 1

Supply reduction 1 (<18) Supply reduction 0 1

Demand reduction 0 1 Demand reduction 0 1


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Policy (alcohol use regulations by law)

Alcohol Age limit

Soft drugs Age limit

Hard drugs Age limit

Minimum age to pur-chase 18

Minimum age to pur-chase AR

Minimum age to pur-chase AR

Possession a criminal offence

NR


>18 (quantity greater than small, even for personal use)


>18 (quantity greater than small, even for personal use)

Consumption a crimi-nal offence NR



Purchase a criminal offence NR

Purchase a criminal offence AR

Purchase a criminal offence AR

Jurisdiction of legisla-tion 18



NR = no restriction, AR = absolute re-striction

Rating of the practical implemen-tation of norms (concerning alco-hol)

None, lacking

Weak, formal

irregular, mostly formal

regular, rather efficient

systematic, strong

Awareness (of authorities) 0 1 0 0 0

Frequency and consistency of control 0 1 0 0 0

Toughness of punishments 0 0 1 0 0

Liberalism (1) versus conservatism (5) scale 1 2 3 4 5

2. Drug Policy in the Czech Republic

The aggravated problems of drug use and drug trafficking at the beginning of the 20th century

resulted in a need to introduce effective counter-measures at an international level and in

each country.

With regard to UN Conventions of 1961, 1971, and 1988, unauthorized handling of narcotic

drugs has been regarded as a criminal offence since 1962. The Criminal Code and the Criminal

Procedure Code regulate several aspects regarding drug-related offences such as drug traf-

ficking, unauthorized possession of drugs, conditions of prosecution, diversion of prosecution,

types of penalties, etc.

The various socio-political regimes in the Czech Republic in the 20th century have had an

impact on the government’s response to the phenomenon of drug distribution and drug use.


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After the political changes in 1989 and the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993, several non-

governmental organizations called upon the government to respond to the accelerated social

phenomenon of drug use by establishing an effective drug policy system.

The drug policy is a set of diverse measures implemented by institutions with various speciali-

zations and interests. Coordination is essential to ensure that all the stakeholders respect a

joint approach.

The idea behind the coordination of the drug policy is to initiate and promote widespread

cooperation, to optimize the use and outputs of existing resources, and to help form and im-

plement effective measures.

The coordination of the Czech Republic’s drug policy takes place at two non-interchangeable

levels, central and regional (local), while employing instruments for horizontal and vertical

coordination.

The ultimate goal of the current Czech drug policy is to reduce drug use and/or the potential

risks and damage that individuals and society may suffer as a result of drug use. It is based on

a pragmatic and rational approach which lays down realistic and attainable goals (not a

“drug-free society”), making an effort to achieve a balance between prevention and repres-

sion (Radimecky, 2001).

Drug use is not regarded as a criminal offence. Possession of a drug for personal use had not

been viewed as a criminal offence until January 1999. However, the Parliament passed a sig-

nificant amendment of the Criminal Code and the Act on Violations by which it enacted unau-

thorized possession of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances in “a quantity greater than

small” as a criminal offence.

The Act does not define the term “quantity greater than small.” Currently, the instruction of

the Supreme Public Prosecutor defines this term and the Police of the Czech Republic and the

prosecutors use it on a common basis. However, this instruction is not obligatory for judges.

Therefore, the judicial practice requires expert opinions in order to make a decision, and the

opinions are drawn up for both the quantity and the quality of the substance. In addition,

they also specify the quantity of the drug in terms of the individual need of the offender in

the context of his/her contingent addiction (for instance small quantity of marijuana is 20

cigarettes with 1.5 % of delta 9 THC).

If anyone is caught with a small quantity of drugs on him/her without intention to supply, the

police/prosecutors will deliver the case to the specialized local Police units that are compe-

tent to impose a non–criminal (administrative) sanction to the offender (a fine or warning)

under the Act on Violations.


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Distribution of drugs is regarded as a serious offence. Nevertheless, the court takes into ac-

count whether the person dealt drugs in order to finance his/her addiction or with an inten-

tion to gain profit (“a professional dealer”). The latter is usually sentenced to a higher penal-

ty. In addition, the court also considers the number of lethal doses that could be made of the

seized drug.

3. Current debates and intensions

The law applies the discrimination between cannabis-based drugs and other drugs, or, as the

case may be, between cannabis plants and other plants and mushrooms containing drugs only

in cases of possession and cultivation for personal use in a quantity greater than small. All

other forms of unauthorized handling of drugs (e.g. sale, import, export) are punished with-

out consideration to the type of drug.

4. Availability of alcohol

In the Czech Republic children and adolescents get in touch with alcohol and tobacco at first

and then they start to have experiences with another illicit drug. The most popular used illicit

drug at first is marijuana.

Alcohol can be sold in the Czech Republic relatively freely in shops, specialized shops are not

established yet. In the Czech Republic, no restrictions on density of shops with alcohol or on

business hours and days for sale are introduced. There are, however, restrictions on commer-

cial communication and advertising: not to aim advertising to underage persons, not to imply

that drinking alcohol brings certain advantages, not to display unsuitable content etc. On the

other hand, the Czech Republic belongs to countries which enacted zero blood alcohol limit

for drivers by law.

Most alcoholic beverages and cigarettes are perceived to be relatively easily available in the

Czech Republic, although there is ban on alcohol sale to young people beneath age of 18

years. For 20 – 30 % of 12-year-old children, it is very easy to obtain any alcohol beverages

according to their opinion (Institute of Psychology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Repub-

lic). This subjective perception of alcohol availability significantly increases with age.

More than two thirds of 16-year-old students reported that they had drunk their first glass of

alcohol (almost always beer) in 13 years age or less. Boys started to consume alcohol bever-

ages earlier than girls at the same age.

In spite of age limit (18 year) for purchasing alcoholic beverages, almost a third of 16-year-old

students had bought beer during last 30 days in stores (grocery store, liquor store, kiosk or

petrol station) for their own consumption. There are, however, significant gender differences

in this respect: 43 % boys versus 23 % girls (ESPAD 2003).


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More than half of 16-year-old students in the Czech Republic had drunk beer in public estab-

lishments (in pub, bar, restaurant or disco) during the past 30 days; gender differences 60 %

boys versus 50 % girls. For all beverages, on-premise consumption is reported to be more

common than buying alcohol in stores for off-premise consumption.

Almost 91 % of population has ever encountered alcohol being sold to underage persons (un-

der 18) in a restaurant, bar or discotheque (www.drogy-info.cz, opinion poll 2007).


Table 7: Availability of alcohol

None Partial Full State (government) monopoly for selling alcohol beverages in retail stores 1 0 0

None Wine only

Wine and spirits All

Restrictions on density of shops with alcohol 1 0 0 0

None hours or days both Restrictions on business hours and days for sale 1 0 0

None Yes Community programs for raising aware-ness 1 0

Mandatory training of alcohol servers 1 0 Alcohol servers liability for damages caused 1 0 Advertising restrictions for printed me-dia 0 1

Advertising restrictions in broadcast 0 1

Advertising restrictions on billboards 0 1

http://www.drogy-info.cz/


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Price index

formula:

Standard volume

Beer price index: (price8 for a standard container *10 000) / GDP9 per capita 0.16

(0.3 * 10.000) / 18.135 = 0.02 beer 0,5 l

Wine price index 0.94

(1.7 * 10.000) / 18.135 = 0.04 wine 0,75 l

Spirit price index 3.14

(5.7 * 10.000) / 18.135 = 0.11 spirit 0,75 l

None Rare Occasional Often Very often

Random breath testing for drivers 0 0 1 0 0

0,08 + 0,03 to 0,007 0 to 0,02

Legal blood alcohol limit – adults (mg/dl) 0 0 1

0,04 + 0,02 to 0,03 0 to 0,01

legal blood alcohol limit – young drivers 0 0 1

None Fine License suspension

Mandatory penalty for exceeding legal limit 0 1 1

No Yes

graduated licensing for young drivers 1 0

No Yes

Restrictions on alcohol use during cycling, skiing, snowboarding, etc. 0 1 (cycling)

Restrictions on commercial communication (promo-tion) targeting young people 0 1

Consumers information or warning labels on alcohol beverages 1 0

D. Cultural attitude towards alcohol and drug use

The Czech population is very tolerant not only of regular use of legal drugs (cigarettes, alco-

hol), but of excessive drinking as well. In general, it may be stated that the rate of responsi-

bility to one’s own health and awareness of the risks following from drinking alcohol increases

with age. The risk and possible consequences are more widely recognized among women and

among persons with higher education.

On the other hand, only one quarter of population regards soft drugs as acceptable and most-

ly young men below the age of 30 with personal soft drug experience take this liberal stand.

8 We used the standard retail price (source of information: Czech Statistical Office): 0.6 euro for 1 liter of beer; 2.8

euro for 1 liter of wine; 7.6 euro for 1 liter of spirit (exchange rate February 2011)

9 GDP according to the CSO, in dollars per capita, year 2009


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Almost two thirds of population do not agree with legalization of marijuana. Furthermore,

hard drugs are not permissible at all for the Czech population (CVVM 2010)10.

In the last decade, it has come to a noticeable change in attitude to drug users in Czech soci-

ety and from 1996 about 13 % population have moderated their repressive attitude to tolerant

attitude. Nevertheless, Czech society is still equally divided between “repression and preven-

tion” attitude (Prajsová, Csémy, Sadílek 2006).

It is an interesting fact that more than half population does not request noticeable marketing

restriction concerning alcohol (alcohol advertising etc.), however over 80 % population de-

mands these promotional restrictions in the case of cigarettes (Factum Invenio, s.r.o., 2005).

1. Public opinion (commercials - promotion, media, opinion-leaders)

A preventive campaign against drunk driving was launched at a summer music festival as early

as in 2005 – this campaign was based on an idea which tries to make young people going to an

event by car to agree on who is not going to drink alcohol that evening so that he can take

the friends home safely (a parallel to the European Designated Driver campaign). The national

network of Healthy Cities has been putting on annual Health Days since 1995, they focus on

the promotion of health and a healthy lifestyle without use of addictive substances. A media

campaign to support the activities of low-threshold youth club was carried out in 2006. The

campaign Drugs and Parents in 2007 mainly targeted on parents and tried to support them in

talking to their children about drugs, being interested in the preventive programmes in

schools (Czech National monitoring centre for drugs and drug addictions 2006)

2. Family attitude

Almost a half of Czech population would not object if a 15-year-old child tried alcohol during

a family celebration (agency INRES-SONES, 2006) and majority of children of school age con-

firm that their first experience took place with family celebrations indeed.

It is becoming apparent that underage students who regularly use alcohol and tobacco come

from family with lower education and reorganized structure of family life. Regular alcohol

consumption is connected with absenteeism of students as well. Underage drug users show

similar family features like alcohol underage users except for higher education of parents.

10 The Public Opinion Research Centre. 2011. Attitudes towards alcohol (adult 15+). Prague: The Public Opinion

Research Centre (Notes: press release from 12. 7. 2010).


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Single or divorced people use marijuana (or drugs) much more frequently than married peo-

ple. Users of Ecstasy come from category of young people with stable employment or students

as well (Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic, 2006).

3. Regional specificities

In the Czech Republic, a regional analysis of differences in prevalence rates of addictive sub-

stances (16-year-old students) showed the highest prevalence rates in Usti nad Labem region

followed by Capital Prague and southern regions. However, regional differences exist accord-

ing to the type of drug (especially in the prevalence of heroin use). From the point of view of

using addictive substances, cities and urban areas are traditionally more exposed areas, while

lower prevalence of using addictive substances is reported in less urban or rural areas; how-

ever, this trend tends to disappear step by step.

Moreover, the half of adult population perceives problems with drugs in their place of perma-

nent residence, especially in Capital Prague and surrounding regions (Representative survey of

public opinion CVVM, 2001).

4. Ethnic specificities

In the Czech Republic, social problems of drug use which may lead to social exclusion involves

especially certain group of the Roma population and the Vietnamese minority. It holds true

that the Vietnamese minority is very close and only limited information about drug use in this

group is available. The sniffing of inhalants and use of cannabis and Pervitin prevails among

Slovak Roma. Members of the Roma (and also Vietnamese) community are often involved in

drug trafficking and cannabis growing (Czech National monitoring centre for drugs and drug

addictions 2006). A substantial part of the group (one quarter) had personal experience with

the use of illicit drugs.

The exclusion of Roma communities is regarded as an accumulation of social problems, the

primary factors of the social exclusion of the Roma involve long-term unemployment in rela-

tion to a low education, low income, unavailability of housing or its being of poor quality, low

social competencies, low motivation, the frequent bad health condition of inhabitants who

are negatively influenced by poor eating habits, smoking, and the consumption of alcohol and

other additive substances.

In general, it is possible to distinguish the following groups among so-called mobile drug users

in the Czech Republic either: Russian speaking drug users and Slovak users – this involves oc-

casional drug users and seasonal workers with lower incomes or criminals involved to drug

dealing.


17

5. School policies

It can be reported in the Czech Republic that extent of drug use experience decreases with

the level of academic aspirations of the students, low level of education is thus one of the

socio-demographic risk factors of drug use.

It was most frequent among persons with primary education, of whom almost one third took

some psychoactive substance in the last year (Czech National monitoring centre for drugs and

drug addictions 2006).

Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports has a majority share in enforcing a school primary

prevention of risky behavior in juveniles in the Czech Republic. By the law, school rules have

to incorporate prohibition of possession, distribution and abuse of addictive substances in

school area including obligation of school principal to determinate the sanctions and to keep

county council informed. Schools should try to influence behavior of children and offer valua-

ble leisure activities.

In the Czech Republic schools pay attention to students from risky groups – handicapped stu-

dents, students from problematic family background, students with problematic relationships

with peer group. The focus of these activities rests with class teachers.

In the case of using additive substances by student, a special adviser makes necessary ad-

justments – discreet inquiry, interview with child, recommend the conversation with profes-

sional. With regard to reasonable suspicion (or in the case of apparent drug influencing during

lessons) a special adviser has to contact student’s parents or legal representatives and medi-

cal facility.

E. Conclusion

The results of 2005 – 2009 National Strategy evaluation showed that three strategic objectives

had been achieved: the number of problem users of illicit drugs had been kept relatively sta-

ble, the rate of infectious diseases and other health risks among drug users remained low, and

the network of services for drug users had been maintained. On the contrary, the experi-

mental use of drugs continued to rise and efforts to stabilize or reduce drug consumption and

the availability of drugs failed.

The new National Drug Policy Strategy for the Period 2010 – 2018 which builds upon the previ-

ous strategy defines four key objectives: to reduce the level of experimental and occasional

drug use (particularly among young people), to reduce the level of problem and intensive

drug use, to reduce potential drug-related risks to individuals and society and to reduce drug

availability (particularly to young people).


18

A new Penal Code includes significant changes in how to address illegal drugs. The changes

concern drug possession for personal use, where drugs are differentiated according to their

social and health risks. In comparison to the previous sentencing guidelines, a lower punish-

ment range will apply to the possession of cannabis in quantity greater than small, other

types of drugs will carry stricter sentences. By virtue of two of its regulations, the Govern-

ment determined drug quantities greater than small, as well as greater-than-small quantities

of plants or mushrooms containing narcotic or psychotropic substances.

Policies and laws have become stricter in the past five years in case of hard drugs; on the

other hand, policy toward soft drugs has become more liberal. In the case of alcohol, there

exist evident signs that alcohol policy has been becoming stricter, even though there have not

been implemented new rules yet.

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