Although the number of intravenous heroin addicts in Croatia is on the decline, there are increasingly more cocaine addicts, according recently released data by the national registry of patients treated for addiction to psychoactive drugs.

The use of cocaine in the capital city of Zagreb has been increasing since 2011, according to a recent report by the EU drugs agency (EMCDDA) which analysed waste water in European cities, and indicated that in Zagreb the daily consumption of Cocaine has increased from 162.3 milligrams in 2011 to 216.3 milligrams per 1,000 residents in 2017, or by 33 percent over those six years.

In its report, EMCCDA noted that cocaine is the most commonly used illegal stimulant drug in Europe. Their findings are based on an analysis of wastewater in 56 European cities in 19 countries, and includes analyses for traces of four drugs – cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, and ecstasy.

In 2016, more than 7,100 drug addicts were treated by the national health care system, with nearly 6,000 of them opiate addicts. Opiate addicts continued to account for 83.8 percent of all those treated, according to the figures presented at recent conference on drug abuse, held on June 26, the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

In 2016, the Interior Ministry recorded more than 11,100 seizures of illegal drugs, or 24 percent up from 2015.

In seven of Croatia’s 21 counties – Istria, Zadar, Sibenik-Knin, the City of Zagreb, Primorje-Gorski Kotar, Split-Dalmatia, and Dubrovnik-Neretva – the number of registered addicts is above the national average.

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