As many as 2,193 people underwent treatment for drug addiction last year the National Centre for Medical Information (NCZI) informed. According to its data, the most frequent ways of taking drugs were smoking and injecting. “For the past decade we've been recording a gradual drop in needle-using addicts, which is in keeping with the drop in the number of heroin addicts,” said NCZI spokesperson Peter Bubla, adding that drug use and related problems are common among young people between 20-34 years who represent 70 percent of all drug addicts who received help in Slovakia.
According to the report, the number of heroin addicts has been decreased. On the other hand, the Centre has recorded a rise in methamphetamine use. Moreover, 731 out of 2,193 people were reported to be long-term addicts, regularly taking drugs for more than 11 years. When it comes to regional distribution, the most people seeking help can be found in the Bratislava and Nitra regions (571 and 334 drug addicts, respectively). The lowest figure was recorded in the Prešov region (92).
