Country overview: Lithuania
- 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 | Lithuania | EU (27 countries) | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 2010 | 3 329 039 | 501 105 661 p | Eurostat | |
| Population by age classes | 15–24 | 2010 | 15.3 % | 12.1 % p | Eurostat |
| 25–49 | 35.9 % | 35.8 % p | |||
| 50–64 | 17.7 % | 19.1 % p | |||
| GDP per capita in PPS (Purchasing Power Standards) 1 | 2009 | 55 | 100 | Eurostat | |
| Total expenditure on social protection (% of GDP) 2 | 2008 | 16.2 % p | 26.4 % p | Eurostat | |
| Unemployment rate 3 | 2010 | 17.8 % | 9.6 % | Eurostat | |
| Unemployment rate of population aged under 25 years | 2010 | 35.1 % | 20.9 % | Eurostat | |
| Prison population rate (per 100 000 of national population) 4 | 2009 | 247.6 | Council of Europe, SPACE I-2009 | ||
| At risk of poverty rate 5 | 2009 | 20.6 % | 16.3 % | SILC | |
p Eurostat provisional value.
1 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.
2 Expenditure on social protection contains: benefits, which consist of transfers, in cash or in kind to households and individuals to relieve them of the burden of a defined set of risks or needs.
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, 2009.
5 Share of persons aged 0+ with an equivalent disposable income below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold, which is set at 60 % of the national median equivalised disposable income (after social transfers).
Drug use among the general population and young people
The first national general population survey on drug use in Lithuania was carried out in 2004 and the second in 2008. The survey was carried out in line with the EMCDDA guidelines, and was conducted among persons aged 15–64. According to the results, lifetime use of cannabis was reported by 11.9 %; among younger adults (15–34 years), the prevalence was 21.2 %. Last year prevalence of cannabis use for the whole sample was reported to be 5.6 %.
Lifetime experience with illegal drugs increased significantly during the 1990s, as shown by the ESPAD surveys conducted in 1995 and 1999. Except for lifetime prevalence rates of inhalants use and heroin, experimentation with illegal drugs increased among students in Lithuania between 1995 and 2007. Data from the ESPAD survey conducted in 2007 show lifetime experience for cannabis, the most frequently illicit drug experimented with among this age group, with 18 % having used cannabis at least once during their lifetime in 2007 (13 % in 2003 and 12 % in 1999). With regard to amphetamines and ecstasy and inhalants, results of the survey indicated a lifetime prevalence of 3 %. Results also showed 12 % for the last year prevalence of cannabis use (11 % in 2003, 10 % in 1999), 5 % for the last month prevalence of cannabis (6 % in 2003, 4 % in 1999). In addition, the reported lifetime prevalence of cannabis use among males was 24 % and 13 % among females.
Prevention
The Lithuanian strategy prioritises prevention of drug use in the family, among children and youths.
Drug prevention projects executed in Lithuania are focused mainly on universal prevention in local communities and schools, aiming at protecting young people against drug use. The universal prevention programme ‘Prevention of use of alcohol, tobacco and psychoactive substances’ was adapted to each age group, and covers pre-school, primary, basic and secondary education. Life skills-based drug prevention is increasingly used in education settings. Selective and indicated prevention projects in Lithuania were targeted mainly at recreational settings, such as nightclubs, at-risk groups and families. Since 2005, the project ‘Clubbing without drugs’, a prevention programme on drug distribution and use in nightclubs, engages several stakeholders such as managers of nightclubs, representatives of nightclubs, police officers and nightclub personnel. This programme proved to be very effective for all stakeholders involved. The EU-wide project FreD goes net, targeting children who experiment drugs, was launched in Lithuania in 2007.
Mass media campaigns and informative approaches (leaflets, etc.) play a significant role in prevention activities.
Problem drug use
Using the capture–recapture method, there were estimated to be around 2 167 problem drug users (1 663–2 934) in Vilnius in 2007 (a rate of 4.1–7.3 per 1 000 inhabitants aged 15–64). A provisional estimate of around 4 300 problem drug users and around 3 200 injecting drug users was constructed for the whole country.
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.
Treatment demand
In Lithuania, the data collection system for treatment demand is under development. In 2009, all 94 outpatient treatment centres in the country submitted treatment demand data.
As of 31 December 2009, the healthcare institutions have records of approximately 5 953 individuals registered with dependence disorders caused by drugs and psychotropic substances, out of which 345 were first-time treatment clients, registered during 2009. Data indicate that around 80.0 % of all registered clients reported opioids as the primary drug. Among new treatment clients: 73.6 % reported that opioids were the primary drug, followed by 4.3 % for amphetamines and 2.0 % for cannabis.
In 2009, about 30 % of all clients entering treatment were aged more than 35 years. Among new treatment clients, 36 % were less than 25 years of age. As far as gender distribution is concerned, 81 % of all clients entering treatment were male, whereas a smaller proportion of 19 % were female. The same pattern in gender distribution was reported among new treatment clients, with 83 % for male and 17 % for female.
Drug-related infectious diseases
In Lithuania, HIV prevalence rates among subgroups of IDUs increased to more than 1 % in 1997, yet remained consistently below 5 % until 2001. In 2009, newly-reported HIV positive cases in Lithuania reached 180 cases. Out of the 180 cases, 65 % (117) were injecting drug users (IDUs).
In Lithuania, regional public health centres, and Centres for Emergency Health (n= 54) send aggregated data on HBV and HCV infection from each territory, to the Centre for Communicable Diseases and AIDS (CCDA). In 2009, the CCDA registered 58 persons with acute viral hepatitis B. Among notified cases with known transmission route, one person was IDU (8.9% in 2008 and 13 % in 2007). In 2009, 47 persons with acute viral hepatitis C were registered. Out of the 47 registered acute HCV cases, 14.9 % (7) were IDUs (13.9% in 2008; 43 % in 2002; 59 % in 2001). However, more than half of the registered HBV and HCV cases have unknown causality and therefore these data shall be treated with caution.
Drug-related deaths
Data on drug-related deaths are submitted by the General Mortality Register of the Statistics Department of the Republic of Lithuania. DRD cases are those lethal cases where the direct cause of death recorded on the death certificate is due to use of narcotic and psychotropic substances. The data from the registry are compliant with drug-related deaths standards, a standard protocol for extracting data on drug-related deaths from registers in the Member States of the European Union (which includes acute deaths directly related to drug consumption or overdoses). In 2009, 68 direct drug-related deaths were recorded, while in 2008, this number was 60, but in 2007, the figure was 72. With regards to the distribution by age and sex, the majority of them were males (91.2 %) and the mean age was 32.6 years. Opiates were involved in all DRD cases with known toxicology results (80.9 % of the total).
Treatment responses
Drug treatment in Lithuania is provided mostly by public and private agencies. Coordination, implementation and provision of drug treatment is conducted at the local level. The main funding bodies of the different treatment services are the national health insurance, county budgets and Vilnius municipality. Four regional counties and one municipality finance specialised treatment centres at regional level.
In Lithuania, outpatient drug treatment is provided by public mental health centres, and through private medical institutions that have obtained a special licence. Furthermore, outpatient drug treatment is also provided in Centres for Addictive Disorders. There are five regional public specialised Centres for Addictive Disorders which are located across the country. These centres offer treatment of one to three months by group psychotherapy, acupuncture and counselling, and they also provide methadone treatment. Inpatient treatment such as withdrawal treatment and residential treatment is delivered by the specialised Centres for Addictive Disorders.
Substitution treatment with methadone was implemented in 1995, and treatment commenced in three cities in 1996. Buprenorphine treatment has been available since late 2002, throughout the specialised mental healthcare institutions. According to Order No 702 of the Ministry of Health, methadone and buprenorphine treatment can only be initiated by treatment centres. By the end of 2009, 17 health care institutions located in 10 cities provide the treatment. In 2009, the total number of clients in substitution treatment was 815, 760 of whom were on methadone and 93 on buprenorphine.
Harm reduction responses
In 1997, the Vilnius Centre for Dependence Diseases, in cooperation with the Open Society Foundation in Lithuania, were the first to commence low-threshold programmes for injecting drug users, but a special decree of the Ministry of Health adopted in 2006 provide a background for expansion of the programmes and also sets the minimum criteria for services. In 2009, 12 low-threshold units operated in ten cities in Lithuania. These programmes were funded through local budgets or international projects. In addition, three mobile outreach needle/syringe exchange points operate in the country. Injecting drug users may exchange needles and syringes, obtain condoms, disinfectant tissues, bandages, educational-informational materials, as well as a short consultation by a social worker and information about the availability of healthcare and social assistance. However, information and counselling remains the primary focus of the services, which is reflected also by a declining number of needles and syringes distributed through the centres. Thus, in 2009, a total of 188 000 syringes were provided in Lithuania which is markedly less than 238 745 syringes distributed in 2008. Pharmacies are significant sources for sterile injecting equipment, although the 2008 study showed high intolerance among pharmacy staff towards IDUs and since then no special harm reduction programs have been implemented in cooperation with them yet. Lithuania also participates in transnational projects aiming at reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS, STDs, hepatitis and tuberculosis across the Baltic States.
Drug markets and drug-related offences
Lithuania is located on the Silk route, along which heroin is smuggled from central Asian states through Russia, Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states. Methamphetamines are the most common illegal drug produced locally and small quantities of cannabis are also cultivated in the country. The number of crimes related to illicit drug trafficking has increased from 959 in 2003, during which harsher laws were adopted, to 2 189 in 2009. According to the Lithuanian Ministry of Interior, the majority of drug-related crimes concerned the possession, transportation and dealing with illegal drugs. The largest share of drug-related offences in 2009 were related to cannabis, with 32.1 % of all drug-related offences reported, followed by heroin with 29.2 % and methamphetamine with 19.7 %.
In 2009, there were 381 heroin « seizures, followed by 313 herbal cannabis seizures, higher figures as in the previous year; however lower quantities of both drugs were seized The quantity of cocaine and ecstasy seized decreased in 2009 compared to 2008 (from 41 kg in 2008 to 6 kg in 2009 and from 76 808 tablets in 2008 to 69 823 tablets in 2009, respectively).
National drug laws
Since May 2003, a new penal code entered into force, under which possession of even a small amount of illicit drugs with no intent to distribute is a criminal offence, sentenced to up to two years' imprisonment or arrest. This remains also an administrative offence and may be judged to be a misdemeanour, but the penal code takes priority.
Quantities of all drugs are set out in a Ministry Regulation that defines small, large and very large quantities.
Traffickers may be sentenced for five to eight years, which rises to 10 and then 15 years, depending on the quantities involved and aggravating circumstances (e.g. involvement of minors or an organised group).
In 2009, an administrative penalty was introduced for offences related to presence of intoxicated workers in the workplaces.
National drug strategy
The ‘National programme on drug control and prevention of drug addiction 2010–16 ’ was endorsed by the Lithuanian Parliament after a long procedure and negotiations at the end of 2010. The national programme prioritises drug demand reduction among children and youth in particular, drug supply reduction, drug use monitoring, information, coordination and international cooperation.
Coordination mechanism in the field of drugs
The Drug Control Department under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania started its activities on 1 January 2004. The most important tasks of the Drug Control Department are: to implement drug prevention and drug control policy, after identifying the principal directions of the implementation of the policy; to organise implementation of drug prevention and drug control measures; and to coordinate other activities of the state and municipal institutions and organisations in the sphere of drug prevention and drug control.
In 2008, the Seimas (Parliament) of the Republic of Lithuania formed a Parliamentary Commission for Prevention of Drug and Alcohol Addiction, consisting of 14 parliamentarians. The objectives of the Commission are to safeguard the interests of the government and to provide favourable conditions for the implementation of national drug policy. However, drugs and drug addiction may be discussed also in other relevant parliamentarian committees.
The National Health Council, which operated under the Statute of The Parliament, among others, coordinates also drug control policy formulation and implementation process.
Each of the 60 municipalities has a ‘Municipality Drug Control Commission’. These usually consist of representatives of local institutions (police, education institutions, doctors, social workers, etc.), and the Chairman is usually the Mayor or Vice-mayor. These municipal commissions coordinate different actions, such as prevention, treatment and harm reduction.
Drug-related research
Scientific research is a priority within the national programme on drug addiction, prevention and control, together with the development of information systems and training on research. Research is mainly funded by relevant ministries and public authorities in the area. The Lithuanian national focal point has a mandate to develop methodological recommendations in this area. It also conducts population surveys and collects information from several governmental, academic and NGO sources on drug-related research, which is disseminated through its annual National report and website. Recent drug-related studies mentioned in the 2010 Lithuanian National report mainly focused on aspects related to the consequences of drug use, but also include research on responses to the drug situation and on prevalence, incidence and patterns of drug use.
