Country overview: Croatia
- Situation summary
- Data sheet
- Barometer
Contents
- Drug use among the general population and young people
- Prevention
- Problem drug use
- Treatment demand
- Drug-related infectious diseases
- Drug-related deaths
- Treatment responses
- Harm reduction responses
- Drug markets and drug-related offences
- National drug laws
- National drug strategy
- Coordination mechanism in the field of drugs
- Drug-related research
| Year | Croatia | EU (27 countries) | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 2008 | 4 436 401 | 497 455 033 | Eurostat | |
| Population by age classes | 15–24 | 2008 | 12.6 % | 12.6 % 1 | Eurostat |
| 25–49 | 35 % | 36.3 % 1 | |||
| 50–64 | 19.4 % | 18.4 % 1 | |||
| GDP per capita in PPS (Purchasing Power Standards) 2 | 2007 | 58.5 | 100 | Eurostat | |
| Unemployment rate 3 | 2008 | 8.5 % | 7 % | Eurostat | |
| Unemployment rate of population agends under 25 years | 2008 | 22.5 % | 15.5 % | Eurostat | |
| Prison population rate (per 100 000 of national population) 4 | 2006 | 84.1 | Council of Europe, SPACE 2006.1 | ||
p Eurostat provisional value.
1 2007 figures.
2 Gross domestic product (GDP) is a measure of economic activity. It is defined as the value of all goods and services produced less the value of any goods or services used in their creation. The volume index of GDP per capita in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) is expressed in relation to the European Union (EU-27) average set to equal 100. If the index of a country is higher than 100, this country's level of GDP per head is higher than the EU average and vice versa.
3 Unemployment rates represent unemployed persons as a percentage of the labour force. Unemployed persons comprise persons aged 15 to 74 who were: (a) without work during the reference week; (b) currently available for work; (c) actively seeking work.
4 Situation of penal institutions on 1 September, 2006.
Drug use among the general population and young people
To date in Croatia, no general population survey on illicit drug use has been carried out.
The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs (ESPAD) was conducted nationwide regularly, since 1995. Cannabis was reported as the most frequently used substance. In 2007, results of the survey indicated that among 15–16-year-old students lifetime prevalence of cannabis use was 18 %, last year prevalence was 13 % and the last month prevalence was 6 %. Lifetime prevalence of inhalants was reported by 11 % of the sample. Regarding all other substances, percentages for lifetime prevalence were equal or below 2 %.
The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) was conducted twice (2002–06) in Croatia. Only 15-year-old students were interviewed about their herbal cannabis use. In 2002, lifetime prevalence of herbal cannabis was 16 % and 14 % in 2006. More male (17 %) than female students (11 %) reported lifetime herbal cannabis use.
Prevention
Addiction prevention programmes in the Republic of Croatia are being realised primarily at the local community level of the 21 counties, as multidisciplinary activities with the participation of different sectors such as education, health, social care, non-governmental organisations and media. Universal drug prevention is mostly organised and implemented within the education system and is primarily aimed at reducing the interest of young people in experimenting with addictive substances. On a community level, campaigns targeted at the general media are organised, and youth clubs organise lectures on addiction problems and educational programmes on the consequences of drug misuse. Preventive mobile units are distributing information materials (leaflets, brochures) by a bus that travels around small places and islands in the county. Although there are numerous small-scale projects carried out across the counties, systematic monitoring of preventive programmes does not exist in the Republic of Croatia, nor their systematic evaluation. Overall in Croatia, information-provision and mass media campaigns prevail in prevention strategies.
Selective and indicated prevention is undertaken in some projects with vulnerable families and within the educational context, aimed at children with special needs. The German programme MOVE (Motivational short intervention for youth at risk) was implemented and adapted to Croatian needs. Training for MOVE targets persons who encounter vulnerable youth in the scope of their work, i.e. counselling at the social care centres, prevention services and outpatient treatment, school services, NGOs and homes for education of children and youth care institutions. It consists of 12 modules/units and is based on experiences from different therapeutic concepts and theories transformed into short advisory dialogues. The basic goal was to include youth who otherwise would not come to counselling and who prefer shorter dialogues that are more efficient for these specific cases than longer conversations.
Problem drug use
Croatia used a multiplier method to estimate the size of injecting drug users population in 2006/2007 (based on benchmark of cases treated in 2006 and multiplier obtained in 2007 in the framework of a seroprevalence survey). The estimated size of IDU population was 15 444. This figure corresponds to a rate of 5.2 per 1 000 inhabitants aged 15–64 (1).
The EMCDDA defines problem drug use as intravenous drug use (IDU) or long duration/regular drug use of opiates, cocaine and/or amphetamines. Ecstasy and cannabis are not included in this category.
(1) Calculated by the EMCDDA, using 2 969 981 as the 15–64 population size.
Treatment demand
Since 1978, the Croatian Institute of Public Health has been gathering data on treatment demand clients. In 2007, the Croatian Institute of Public Health gathered data from 21 outpatient centres and 30 inpatient centres out of the 36 centres.
In 2007, a total of 7 464 outpatient clients entered in treatment, out of which 1 779 were first-time treatment clients.
Among all treatment clients 76.4 % reported opioids as their primary drug followed by 13.3 % for cannabis and 3.1 % for amphetamines. Among first-time treatment clients, 45 % reported opioids as the primary drug, followed by 31.3 % for cannabis and 7 % for amphetamines.
In 2007, 27 % of all clients entering treatment were aged less than 25 years. A higher percentage in age distribution was reported among new treatment clients, with 51 % being under the age of 25 years. As far as gender distribution is concerned, 83 % of all clients entering treatment were male whereas 17 % were female. A similar distribution in gender distribution was reported among new treatment clients with 82 % for male and 18 % for female.
Drug-related infectious diseases
HIV data is the only one checked and compared at national level, it is estimated that the incidence rate of HIV infection among the addict population is low. The incidence of HIV-positive persons has remain stable over the last years. The number of HIV-positive addicts is very low and it is estimated to be approximately 0.6 %. What has contributed to the low figure is a permanent education, being well-informed, pharmacotherapy, counselling centres and replacement needles and syringes.
HBC and HCV are not nationally monitored in Croatia to the same extent as HIV and the number of new cases of drug users being infected with HBV and HCV virus is therefore not known. Nevertheless, some preliminary results obtained through interviews are estimating that for 2007 the ratio would be around 24 % for HBV and 44 % for HCV.
Drug-related deaths
There are two sources in Croatia for information on acute deaths: the Central Bureau of Statistics operates a Mortality Register, and collects and evaluates all data on deaths in the entire country; and the Croatian Institute of Public Health (CIPH) encodes the basic causes of death, and compiles overall statistics. The Mortality Register includes, in addition to demographic data, all causes of death and classifies them using a four-digit code, and this is connected to the CIPH database. So as soon as the Mortality Register is changed, the CIPH database is automatically updated.
In the last 10 years the number of deaths is gradually increasing in Croatia, and in the previous year it was recorded the highest number of deaths so far. The latest drug-related deaths data are for 2007 where a total of 115 cases were registered, and 90.4 % of these involved males. A majority of the cases (66 %) of deaths were associated with opiates and (17 %) to methadone overdose.
Treatment responses
Drug-related treatment in Croatia falls under the responsibility of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, whereas the implementation of treatment programs falls under the responsibility of services for addiction prevention, hospital institutions, non-governmental organisations and therapeutic communities. Treatment services which are under the state’s authority are funded by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the counties and the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance. Non-governmental organisations are funded by the Office for Combating Narcotic Drugs Abuse of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the counties. In all Croatian counties, there are Services for Addiction Prevention, which are organised within the county Institutes of Public Health. These services are obliged to collect and send data on treated persons to the Croatian Institute of Public Health.
Treatment services in Croatia can be classified into three main areas: inpatient treatment; outpatient treatment; and rehabilitation therapeutic communities. Across Croatia, there are 36 inpatient treatment centres and 21 outpatient treatment centres. Drug treatment services are provided by national agencies and NGOs. In Croatia, methadone substitution treatment was introduced in the early 1990s and is currently used within three types of treatment: short-term outpatient detoxification; extended outpatient detoxification; and long-term maintenance treatment. Specialised medical doctors and treatment centres provide methadone substitution treatment. However, methadone maintenance treatment is predominantly provided by general practitioners. In 2006, ‘Guidelines for the use of methadone in the substitution therapy of opiate drug users’ were adopted by the Croatian government. Furthermore, in December 2006 ‘Guidelines for the use of buprenorphine in the substitution therapy of opiate drug users’ were also approved by the Minister of Health and Social Welfare.
In 2007, the total number of clients in substitution treatment was 2 016, of whom 852 were on methadone and 1 164 on buprenorphine.
Harm reduction responses
Harm reduction programmes, primarily needles and syringes exchange programmes, are conducted in cooperation with the Croatian Red Cross, by the NGOs ‘Terra’, ‘Let’, ‘Help’ and Institut in the major Croatian cities: Zagreb, Rijeka, Split, Zadar, Pula and Dubrovnik. In Croatia, the first harm reduction programmes focusing on problem drug users were introduced immediately after the Croatian Parliament in 1996 recognised this approach as an important element of the national drugs strategy. The NGO ‘Help’ initiated their first project in 1996 in Split, while the Croatian Red Cross started its projects in Zagreb, Zadar and Pula in 1998, followed by activities in Rijeka by the NGO ‘Terra’ in 1999. Needles and syringe exchange programmes were aimed at injecting drug users in order to prevent the spread of blood-borne diseases, especially hepatitis C and HIV. In 2007, nearly 150 000 syringes were distributed, which is almost a 9 % increase in comparison with 2006 data. Risk reduction in recreational settings is also promoted through various NGOs.
In Croatia, there are 34 locations where harm reduction programmes (including drop-in centres) are regularly conducted. Services include voluntary, anonymous and free-of-charge counselling and testing, as well as cooperation in research related to behaviour among the intravenous drug users population. Programmes also print and distribute information about drug use.
Drug markets and drug-related offences
The Republic of Croatia is a transit route through which narcotic drugs are smuggled on the way from the production countries to consumer countries. Significant and large scale cocaine seizures in Croatia are mostly connected with sea transport and take place mostly in Rijeka, the container terminal and the port of Plomin.
In 2007, the total number of reported drug related offences was 7 261, with 66.4 % for cannabis related offences, followed by 17 % for heroin offences and 9.9 % for amphetamine related offences. As regards to drug seizures, in 2007, there was a total of 3 277 herbal cannabis seizures, a total of 551 cannabis resin seizures, 604 of heroin seizures and 547 of amphetamine seizures.
In 2007, there was a significant increase in the quantities of drug seized — mainly as regards to cannabis plants, herbal cannabis, cocaine and LSD when compared to 2006. In 2007, 2 886 cannabis plants were seized as compared to 2 699 in 2006, 239 kg of seized herbal cannabis as compared to 202 kg in 2006, 105 kg of seized cocaine as compared to 6 kg in 2006 and 215 units of seized LSD as compared to 21 units in 2006.
Drug prices are collected by 20 police departments covering the whole territory of Croatia during criminal investigations and purchase simulations. The average prices for marihuana, cocaine, ecstasy and LSD remained stable between 2006 and 2007.
National drug laws
In Croatia, drug control is mainly covered by two legal acts: the Law on Combating Narcotic Drugs Abuse, and the Penal Code.
The Law on Combating Narcotic Drugs Abuse, passed in November 2001 and since updated, regulates conditions for the manufacture, possession of and trade in narcotic drugs and substances and precursors. It outlines a system for the prevention of drug addiction and assistance to addicts and sporadic narcotic drug users, including a protective measure of mandatory substance abuse treatment of three months to one year. It prohibits unauthorised drug consumption, cultivation, possession and trafficking, and provides for fines for legal entities in breach of drug trading regulations, and for natural persons who cross the border without declaring psychoactive medicines. Discarding syringes and failure to notify the police of suspicious events are also specific offences.
In Chapter 13 of the Penal Code, Article 173 addresses narcotic drugs abuse and trafficking, with penalties updated in 2006 to align with the Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA of 25 October 2004. Unlawful possession is punishable by up to a year in prison, while trafficking offences start with minimum prison sentences of three years, or five years for involvement of organised crime. The offence of inducement or enabling drug use will be aggravated if against a child, juvenile, mentally deficient person or if it causes particularly serious consequences, with a sentence of up to 10 years possible. Precursor trafficking carries a penalty of one to five years in prison.
National drug strategy
Croatia’s new ‘National strategy on combating narcotic drugs abuse in the Republic of Croatia 2006–12’ replaced a former strategy which was first implemented in 1996 and ended in 2005. The new strategy is comprehensive, focusing on illegal drugs and covers the same five pillars as in the EU strategy: coordination, supply reduction, demand reduction, international cooperation, and information/research/evaluation. Its two main goals are: (i) a measurable reduction in drug use, drug addiction and related health and social risks and (ii) the measurable promotion of a successful, efficient, scientifically-based application of the law regarding the production and trafficking of drugs and precursors. The strategy is complemented by the ‘Action plan on combating narcotic drugs abuse 2006–09’. There are also annual implementing programmes of the action plan which describe in detail specific aims and methods for achieving the goals, as well as specific tasks of particular executors for each budget period.
Coordination mechanism in the field of drugs
The Commission for Combating Narcotic Drugs is composed of higher members of all relevant ministries and is chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of social issues and human rights. The Commission coordinates the activities of the ministries and other actors involved in the implementation of the national drug strategy. It also adopts annual programmes of actions in this field.
The Office for Combating Narcotic Abuse is a specialised government service which deals with the day-to-day implementation of the national drug programme and its monitoring. There are also County Commissions for Combating Drug Abuse, which coordinate the implementation of the drug strategy at the local level. Members of these commissions are experts and representatives of local administrations.
Drug-related research
Drug-related research in Croatia is mostly quantitative and undertaken in the field of health. The first research project on addictions was conducted among the heroin addict population of Split. Research on ‘healthy populations’, mostly schoolchildren, started with ESPAD in 1995. Research is mainly funded by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport (MZOS) and is implemented by governmental agencies. Libraries and websites from funding and research agencies are the main channels for disseminating drug-related research findings. Recent drug-related studies mentioned in the 2008 Croatian National report mainly focused on aspects related to prevalence of drug use.