In Croatia just as in Europe, treated drug addicts are getting older and older, and among individuals who seek treatment for substance abuse, the average age was 42 years old in 2023, according to the data provided by the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ).
In 2023, 5,875 addicts were treated, and most of those patients were men in their forties. The number of addicts in treatment last year was 2,000 fewer than in 2013 when 7,857 patients were registered for substance abuse treatment in the country.
Experimenting with illegal substances usually begins at the age of 16, however, the youngest treated drug addict was a 13-year-old boy, and the oldest was a 72-year-old man.
Concerning heroin, addicts usually start experimenting with this hard drug at the age of 20 and 11 years pass before they enter medical treatment.
Cannabis is the most widespread illegal drug, and cocaine ranks second. However, heroin addicts prevail in treatment, with seven out of 10 addicts under the treatment being heroin addicts.
For the entire Croatia, the rate of treated addicts is 239,4 per 100,000 inhabitants aged 15-64.
In seven counties this rate is above the average, and Istria has the highest rate 550.6 per 100,000 inhabitants. Six of those seven counties are coastal ones plus the City of Zagreb.
Last year, 339 persons died of drug addiction in Croatia.
The HZJZ warns about cocaine being more and more available and says that synthetic opioids pose a serious risk.
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