Illicit Drug Use among Czech and European Adolescents: An Overview of Trends and Contexts

Overview

Objective:
The rapid spread of illicit substance use among adolescents in the Czech Republic and other CentralEuropean countries during the 1990s is a phenomenon that has had a deep impact on health care and social servicesfor adolescents. This study aims to describe the trends in drug use in the Czech Republic and other Europeancountries, and to discuss the contextual background of addictive behaviour of young people.Method: The results presented in this study are based on data from the European School Survey on Alcoholand Other Drugs carried out in 1995 and 1999. The subjects are sixteen-years-old students of the participatingcountries and they are surveyed according to a uniform methodological approach.Results: Cannabis was the most frequently used illicit substance among European adolescents. Lifetimeprevalence was 12% in 1995 and 16% in 1999. The respective figures for the Czech Republic were 22% and 35%.As far as drugs other than cannabis are concerned, the European figures were 4% and 6% and the Czech oneswere 4% and 9% respectively. The data also showed that between the years 1995 and 1999 there significantlyincreased repeated use of drugs (use of drugs with frequency of 6 or more times). By the end of the 1990s, theremarkedly increased the use of so-called dance and/or recreational drugs (theMDMAand the LSD). The data basedon attitudinal variables suggest that Czech adolescents are more tolerant toward specific forms of addictivebehaviour including illicit drug use than their European colleagues. Similarly the drug use is reported as less riskyby the Czechs compared to European figures. More liberal attitudes of adolescents related to substance use maycontribute to higher extent of drug use in the Czech Republic.Conclusions: The response of the society to growing health and social problems connected with drug abuse liespartly in the establishment and further development and care. It may be expected that the importance ofpaediatricians in early detection and early intervention will increase in the near future.

Key words:
drug use, marijuana, addictive behaviour, adolescents, Czech Republic, international comparison