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Contents

Drug use among the general population and young people
Socio-demographic overview
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

     
Short info
Country situation summary (CSS)
A Country situation summary (CSS) is a concise, standard-format overview (4-5 pages) of the drug situation in a specific European country. Based on a single template for all countries, Country situation summaries provide an at-a-glance overview of key recent developments in a country's drug situation. They are updated each year by the EMCDDA's national focal points. Note that detailed analytical reports (approx 100 pages) are also available for each country, see national Reports.
   
National focal point in Slovakia

The NFP in Slovakia is located within the General Secretariat for Drug Dependence and Drug Control as the central point of the country’s drug information system. The Secretariat has loose supervisory and data collection responsibilities vis-à-vis other drug-related institutions.

General Secretariat of the Board of Ministers for Drug Addiction and Drug Control
Námestie slobody 1
SK-81370 Bratislava
Tel: +421 257 295 732
Fax: +421 257 295 759
Head of Focal point: Ms Lucia Kissova
Email: Lucia.kissova[a]vlada.gov.sk

E-mail addresses have been inserted in a way discouraging spam. Please replace [a] by @ before actually using any of the e-mail addresses. 		Further reading
External links
Country situation summary

Slovakia


 

Year

Slovakia   

EU (25 countries)

Source

Population

 2005 5.384.800 461.478.700 

Eurostat

GDP per capita in PPS

(Purchasing Power Standards) (1)

 2005 55.0 100

Eurostat

Inequality of income distribution (2)

 2004 5.8 4.8 (s)

Eurostat

Unemployment rate

2005 16.3% 8.8%

Eurostat

Prison population rate
(per 100.000 of national population)

 2004 165 Range in the EU including Norway (26 countries) based on data from 2003-2005:50-339 

Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics
(s) Eurostat estimate.
(1) Gross domestic product (GDP) is a measure for the 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 (EU25) 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) The ratio of total income received by the 20 % of the population with the highest income (top quintile) to that received by the 20 % of the population with the lowest income (lowest quintile). Income must be understood as equivalised disposable income.

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Drug use among the general population and young people

In Slovakia, general population surveys have indicated a continuous increase in experimental drug use among the general population. Surveys conducted in 1994 and 1996 showed that lifetime prevalence rates for any illicit drug in the general population increased by two thirds (from 6.2 % in 1994 to 10.4 % in 1996). Other survey cycles suggested that this sharp increase faltered in 1998 (when the lifetime prevalence rate for illicit drug use was reported at 10.8%). However more recent data does not corroborate this: in 2002, lifetime prevalence rates in the 15–64 age group were 25% for any illegal drug use and 15% for cannabis use. In 2004, in the 15–64 age group lifetime prevalence of any illicit drug was 29%, with lifetime prevalence of cannabis at 16%.

As in many other Central and Eastern European Countries the ESPAD national school surveys conducted in 1995, 1999 and 2003 showed an increase in illegal drug consumption among secondary school students aged 15–16. Lifetime experience with any illegal drug other than marijuana increased from 2% in 1995 to 5% in 1999 and 6% in 2003. Lifetime prevalence rates for cannabis more than tripled from 9% in 1995 to 19% in 1999 and 27% in 2003. The proportion of those who reported having used ecstasy at least once in their lives was 0% in 1995, 2% in 1999 and 3% in 2003. Lifetime prevalence rates for amphetamines remain unchanged in 1995 and 1999 (1%) and increased to 2% in 2003.

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Socio-demographic overview


  Year Slovakia   EU Source

Unemployment rate of population aged less than 25 years

 2005 30.1% 

18.6% 

Eurostat

Percentage of the population aged 20-24 having completed at least upper secondary education

 2005 91.8%

77.4%

Eurostat

Children aged 0-17 living in jobless households (1)

 2005 13.8%

9.7% (e)

Eurostat
(p) Estimated value.
(1) The indicator Children aged 0-17 years living in jobless households is calculated as a share of persons aged 0-17 who are living in households where no one is working.

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Prevention

In Slovakia , the Ministry of Education takes part in the national drug strategy, the National Program for the Fight against Drugs (2004-2008), the National Program of Health Promotion and Strategy of Prevention of Criminality and the Fight against Crime. Prevention is one of the basic pillars of the National drug strategy, and is also the subject of a specific policy document for the Education sector The plan for Prevention of  Drug Dependencies for 2004–2006. This policy document is in line with previous plans and concentrates on the following objectives: (1) upbringing and education at pre-school age within the school system, as well as extracurricular and leisure activities; (2) active protection of children against socially pathological phenomena; (3) specialised psychological care and counselling; (4) cooperation with families; (5) re-education and social reintegration. In secondary schools, drug prevention was formally incorporated into the curriculum in 2000, as well as into the lesson plan of drug prevention coordinators, educational counsellors and leading head teachers.

A national prevention strategy of substance abuse among children and youths was developed in 2000 by task force members of the WHO project on primary prevention. The main objectives of this strategy were to focus on the prevention of drug abuse among children, youth and their families as well as to create conditions for a gradual realisation of models of drug abuse prevention.

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Problem drug use (*)

One study used the Multivariate Indicator Method to estimate the size of the PDU population. For 2002, it indicated that 20,437 persons (3.8 per 1000) were drug users in the Slovak Republic. A second study based on the Zelterman Indicator estimated the number of IDUs in Bratislava. According to this study the number of IDUs varies between 1.8-3.5 per 1000 population.

Both estimates operated with a broader definition of PDU than the EMCDDA definition sets. It also included ‘the use of other substances than opiates, cocaine or amphetamines, in case the person, who is using them experiences problems, and would benefit from some form of professional care‘.

(*) 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.

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Treatment demand

Since 1999 the Institute of Health Information and Statistics has collected national data from state inpatient and outpatient treatment modalities. A decrease in the number of users treated for heroin as the primary drug has been observed: they represented 42.6% of all treated users in 2004, compared to 73.1% in 2001. The shift in the drug scene from heroin to other drugs seems to be reflected by the growth of treated patients dependent on stimulants such as amphetamines, mostly methamphetamine (a rise from 10.5% in 2002 to 25% in 2004).

Intravenous drug use is the prevailing mode of administration among opiate users since the reporting started in 1994. In 2000, 80.2% of heroin users seeking treatment reported injecting drug use. Recent data suggest that intravenous drug use has decreased. In 2004, the percentage of treatment seekers reporting intravenous drug use as the main route of administration was below 50%.

While in 1999 inhalant and solvent users constituted the second largest group among treatment seekers, the proportion of cannabis users seeking treatment has steadily increased in recent years. In 2004, 17% of all persons seeking treatment for illegal drug dependency reported cannabis as their primary drug. 

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Drug-related infectious diseases

No national estimates on drug-related infectious diseases are available for Slovakia. HIV/AIDS infection among injecting drug users is one of the lowest in the world in a long term. At present, there is one person with HIV transmitted by injection drug use.

The percentage of cases with antibodies to hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) among patients for the first time in treatment in a Centre for the Treatment of Drug Dependency in Bratislava was 45.8% and 4.4% respectively in 2004.

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Drug-related deaths

The total number of drug-related deaths reported in 2004 was 124 cases, of which 46 cases were direct deaths (of which 23 were drug-related according to the EMCDDA definition). Under the influence of drugs, other than poisoning or overdose,78 cases were reported in 2004.


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Treatment responses

Before 1989, no facilities devoted specifically to the treatment of drug dependency existed in Slovakia. Since then specialised health services tailored to the emerging need for drug dependence treatment were established. In addition, during the second half of the 1990s private facilities began to operate.

Screening and initial diagnosis is carried out by general practitioners. General psychiatric services provide detoxification as well as outpatient drug-free treatment. Centres for the Treatment of Drug Dependencies (CTDDs) are the specialist providers, along with psychiatric wards. While during 2004 four of the specialised CTDDs became independent from the hospitals they were based at (in the context of health systems reform) and two CTDDs were closed, no other mayor changes of the treatment system occurred.

Opioid substitution treatment is available at drug addiction medicine units (see Harm reduction responses). Services with regard to aftercare and social reintegration for drug-dependent persons are provided by non-governmental organisations outside the healthcare sector in residential facilities or as self-help groups.


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Harm reduction responses

Outreach harm reduction programmes that provide access to sterile injecting equipment and information on safer drug use are in place in Slovakia, although coverage is limited. In 2000, only three needle exchange programmes operated in the capital Bratislava. Methadone maintenance started at the Centre for Treatment of Drug Dependencies in Bratislava in 1997 and since then remains the only service for methadone maintenance. This is insufficient to meet the existing demand. In contrast to many other Central and Eastern European countries, buprenorphine cannot be prescribed by general practitioners. Buprenorphine may be prescribed only by psychiatric doctors with a certificate in addictology or by doctors working in a drug treatment centre.

HCV treatment is free for drug-using patients unless they have a medical dossier confirming that they have been abstinent for at least since 6 months.


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Drug markets and drug-related offences

After 1989, Slovakia gradually became a transit point on the routes through which narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances are illegally transported from producer countries in Asia to Europe. Linked to the change of drug trafficking routes via East Europe, Slovakia experienced an increase in organised criminal activity involving drug trafficking. In 2004, police services seized among others 71kg of cannabis, 1.9kg of cocaine and 2.3 kg of heroin. Data from the Ministry of Justice clearly show that the number of persons imprisoned for criminal acts related to drugs increased steadily in the second half of the 1990s.

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National drug laws

A new criminal code was adopted in 2005 and extended the use of alternative sentences. Meanwhile, unconditional sentences remain available as the ‘ultimum remedium’. In case of possession of drugs for personal use, home imprisonment penalty and community services may then apply.

The elements of the offence pursuant to Section 171 of the Penal Code enable that a criminal liability arises against a perpetrator who possesses drug for his or her own use without authorisation. Possession is distinguished according to the amount of drug possessed: up to 3 years’ imprisonment may be imposed for personal possession of an amount corresponding to a maximum of three times the usual single dose for personal use; a sentence of imprisonment of up to 5 years may be imposed for personal possession of an amount corresponding to a maximum of ten times the usual single dose for personal use.

Section 172 of the Penal Code defines the penalty for personal possession of an amount of a drug larger than that mentioned in Section 171, as well as the sanction for a perpetrator involved in drug trafficking or otherwise handling drugs in an unauthorised manner. At the same time the Penal Code reduces the lower limit of criminal liability from 15 to 14 years of age.

Drug trafficking, acquisition or production of drugs can be sentenced to 4–10 years imprisonment. The penalty rises to a range of 10–15 years or 15–20 years depending on the value involved and aggravating circumstances (repeated offence, involvement of minors) and to up to 25 years if committed in the context of an organised group. Three convictions for certain serious offences may result in automatic imprisonment of 25 years or even life.

The EMCDDA' s online database of information on European drugs-related legislation, the European Legal Database on Drugs (ELDD), provides further information, including detailed profiles of each country's drug legislation.

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National drug strategy

The National Programme of the Fight against Drugs (2004-2008), main framework for the national drugs policy in Slovakia was adopted by the parliament in June 2005.  This strategy aims at developing a comprehensive and coordinated society-wide approach and responsibility for addressing drugs issues. The four pillars of the NPFD are: prevention, treatment, social reintegration and repression. The implementation of the strategy calls for a multidisciplinary cooperation and effective coordination at all levels of the involved administration (national, regional, local). 

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Coordination mechanism in the field of drugs

The Board of Ministers for Drug Dependencies and Drug Control is the advisory body to the Government responsible for the implementation of the National Programme and for the coordination of national drug policy as a whole. It meets twice a year to discuss and endorse goals and tasks as well as to evaluate previously approved and implemented tasks. The Chairman of the Board is the Deputy Prime Minister responsible for EU integration, human rights and minorities. The permanent executive body of the Board of Ministers for Drug Addiction and Drug Control is the General Secretariat. Its main task is to coordinate, methodologically guide, and control the implementation of the drug policy at central government and regional level.


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