The use of drugs by adults in Croatia doubled from 2011 to 2019, and an increase in addictive behaviours was also recorded among young people, Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) director Krunoslav Capak said at the National Reitox Academy in Zagreb on Monday.

The National Reitox Academy was organised by the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) and the HZJZ to exchange experiences on scientifically-based prevention and present good practice programs from other countries.

One of the aims is to improve the quality of preventive interventions implemented in Croatia and to influence the future implementation of addiction prevention programs at the national and local level.

“There is a global increase in drug use, and this trend is spilling over to Croatia as well. A quarter of people in Croatia have tried some of the drugs,” Capak said, adding that there was an increase in drug use among adults in Croatia from 5.6% in 2011 to 11.6% in 2019.

He cited a European study on smoking, drinking and drug use among young people as showing a decrease in the use of psychoactive drugs, but also an increase in the use of cannabis and synthetic drugs and an increase in behavioural addictions, such as smoking, addiction to screens, playing games, betting and gambling, which he said is particularly worrying.

“The epidemiological situation is alarming,” Capak warned, adding that prevention programs are an effective measure to deal with increasing drug use, along with treatment and rehabilitation.

There are a lot of drug abuse prevention programs being implemented in Croatia, and the HZJZ strives to implement scientifically-based programs, one of them being “I Have an Opinion”, Capak said.

He recalled that the drug addiction prevention strategy until 2030 and the action plan until 2026 were adopted last year to prevent increasing behavioural addictions among young people.

“This epidemic of behavioural addictions increased particularly after the COVID pandemic,” Capak said, adding that “we are looking for well-established practices to implement in Croatia.”

Marijana Gojceta from the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth said that every year the Ministry publishes a public call for prevention programs to combat addiction in primary and secondary schools and student halls of residence.

In the last school year, projects worth a total of €400,000 were financed in 186 primary and secondary schools, and €2.2 million was granted to civil society organisations for the implementation of 141 addiction prevention programs, Gojceta said.

The conference was addressed by representatives of EUDA, Estonia, Spain, Brazil, Germany and Croatia. Psychiatrist Zila van der Meer Sanchez spoke of drug addiction prevention programs in Brazil, while Gregor Burkhart from EUDA focused on social factors influencing the occurrence of addiction.