Slovenia spent an estimated EUR 10m to deal with illegal drug abuse in 2011. As many as 16% of Slovenians have experimented with drugs at some point in their life, most of them (15.8%) with pot or hashish. Some 2% of the respondents tried cocaine and just as many ecstasy.

About 1% of those involved in the survey said they had experience with LSD, while less than 1% tried amphetamines and heroin, Romana Štokelj of the IVZ said.

She also warned of simultaneous use of multiple drugs, which 6.4% of the respondents said they had experience with. This is particularly typical of young adults and is often linked to alcohol abuse.

Marijuana, which is more widely used among men than women, is also popular mostly among young adults.

Little more than 65% of those surveyed think grass should not be legalised, while 13% think it should. About two-thirds of respondents believe smoking pot can be dangerous.

According to Štokelj, the share of Slovenians who have experimented with pot and other illegal drugs is lower than the EU average.

A part of the reason why heroin usage is decreasing is because it is no longer as accessible due to the measures of the US army in Afghanistan, its main producer. The quality of the drug has also decreased, Milan Krek of the IVZ explained.

The IVZ conducted the survey on 7,000 Slovenians aged between 15 and 64 in 2011 and 2012.

Different health facilities dealing with prevention and treating of addiction had over 3,000 patients registered in 2011, 78% of whom were male. Most were heroin addicts, but their share is dropping, while the share of marijuana addicts is rising, Krek said.

The most people are involved in rehabilitation programmes in the south-western and central parts of the country.

Krek also noted that the number of criminal offences per 10,000 people was slowly rising in Slovenia. However, the figure is still lower than in Austria and France but higher than in Croatia, the Netherlands, Portugal and Italy.

The Health Insurance Institute (ZZZS) allocated EUR 5.7m for drug prevention and rehabilitation programmes last year, the Ministry for Labour, Family and Social Affairs EUR 3.2m and ten city municipalities almost EUR 780,000.

Twenty-four people died because of drug abuse in Slovenia last year.