Pubdate: Wed, 28 Nov 2007
Source: Prague Post (Czech Republic)
Contact:  http://www.praguepost.cz/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/346
Author: Marketa Hulpachova, Staff Writer, The Prague Post
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

REPORT TRACKS DRUGS OF CHOICE AMONG YOUTH

Cocaine Use Is Low, While Pervitin and Marijuana Are on Rise

On Nov. 14, police officers from the National Anti-Drug Squad (NPDC) 
busted a four-member gang accused of producing and distributing 
pervitin, a locally made methamphetamine. After what had been months 
of investigation, police had tracked the criminal group to a Brno 
apartment where three of the members were thought to be cooking up 
pounds of pervitin in a rental flat.

"The suspects transported some of the drugs to Teplice, where they 
exchanged it for heroin," says NPDC spokesman Bretislav Brejcha.

Although police are not yet certain exactly how much pervitin the 
gang produced, the incident exemplifies a current trend on the local 
illegal drug market: While other European countries register a 
growing taste for cocaine, it's heroin and pervitin that remain the 
hard drugs of choice for local drug users.

This is according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and 
Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), the European Union agency whose 2007 annual 
report, released Nov. 22, maps new trends in substance abuse and 
illegal drug trafficking throughout the EU. "With its stimulating 
effects, cocaine is very similar to Czech pervitin," says Pavla 
Chomynova, spokeswoman for the National Monitoring Center for Drugs 
and Drug Abuse (NMCDDA), the EMCDDA's local branch.

"Pervitin is relatively easy to get. Its prices are substantially 
lower than those of cocaine, so users seek it out more frequently," she says.

While more than 4.5 million Europeans reported using cocaine in the 
past year, only one in 500 Czechs said they used the drug in 2006, 
the report states.

"The percentages of cocaine use here are so marginal that our 
institution had trouble incorporating them into some of the EU 
statistics," says Viktor Mravcik, who directed the national research 
contributing to the EU report.

While local cocaine use remains relatively low, pervitin production 
and use are on the rise: In 2006, the NPDC registered 19,700 pervitin 
users nationwide.

Due to its ubiquitous popularity and highly addictive character, 
pervitin has not only made its way into small towns and dance 
parties, but is also rising in use elsewhere in the region. The 
report states, "Methamphetamines have become the No. 1 problem drugs 
for individuals seeking treatment in Slovakia, and a high usage level 
is now being recorded in certain subpopulations in Hungary."

Homegrown Addiction

Since the 1980s, pervitin production has consistently risen.

"Methamphetamine is basically a specifically Czech thing," Chomynova says.

While the origins of pervitin use can be traced as far back as World 
War II, widespread use was first registered during the 1970s and 
1980s. "That was when the drug made its debut in closed circles of 
people who were able to cook the drug for their own use," Chomynova says.

At the time, pseudoephedrine, the drug's main component, was 
relatively easy to get. Until its plant's closing in 2002, Roztoky u 
Prahy, a town 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) north of Prague, had one of 
the largest pseudoephedrine producing factories in the world, Chomynova says.

Even now, five years after the plant's shutdown, "the individuals who 
cook and use pervitin are still frequently able to get the 
pseudoephedrine from freely available medicines," she adds.

While the initial effects of pervitin are similar to those of 
cocaine, the long-term consequences differ. "Unlike cocaine use, 
pervitin use can cause long-term psychological damage, leading to 
certain types of psychosis," Chomynova says.

Aside from the spreading popularity of pervitin and a stabilized but 
still high number of heroin users, the Czech Republic also tops EU 
charts for marijuana use among young people. On average, 13 percent 
of young Europeans have used marijuana in the past year. With a 
national average of 19.3 percent, the Czech Republic trails Spain 
with the EU's second-highest rate of marijuana use among young people.

However, effective prevention has brought this trend to a decline, 
down 2 percent to 4 percent since 2002, Mravcik says.

Despite these trends, the overall situation in Europe may be 
improving. "After over a decade of rising drug use, Europe may now be 
entering a more stable phase," the report states. Heroin use and drug 
injecting have become generally less common, and, following a 
sustained period of growth since 1990s, "new data suggest that levels 
of cannabis use may now be stabilizing."

Still, these positive developments are tarnished by a sobering bottom 
line. "Europe risks failing to meet its targets to reduce 
drug-related deaths," the report states. There are "between 7,000 and 
8,000 overdose deaths per year, with no downward trend detectable in 
the most recent data." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake