Poland’s 100,000 addicts

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction estimates that in Poland there are some 100,000-120,000 people with addiction problems, which is close to the European average.

Klaudia Palczak of EMCDDA told Polish Radio One that the most dangerous drugs remain heroine and its derivatives. The study by the Centre reveals that the availability of heroine has increased considerably due to the record-breaking poppy harvest in Afghanistan in 2007.

Still, the study shows that while in countries like Great Britain or Spain cocaine and heroine are the most popular narcotics, in Poland it is amphetamine.

Head of the National Bureau For Drug Addiction Piotr Jablonski points out that apart from the regular drugs in Poland there is also a large market of so-called “stimulators”. Among the most popular substances are diviner’s sage, Hawaiian baby woodrose, hallucinogenic mushrooms and various “party pills”. He added that these are all legal and the all the more dangerous because of it.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction’s research indicates that every hour one European dies of an overdose.

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