Yesterday, the national anti-drug coordinator announced that the Czech Republic is about to start fighting alcohol and gambling activities and regard them as illegal drugs.
The reason, which led to that decision, was an amendment in country’s strategy, related to the anti-drug policy. Authorities approved it yesterday and right after that Jindřich Vobořil informed the media about the changes.
Vobořil commented that the utmost aim of the new strategy is limiting the usage of alcoholic beverages and gambling activities and minimizing the negative influence they have on local communities.
Authorities have to comply with the new strategy for the next four years as the document expires in December 2018.
Vobořil also added that according to the data the latest reports contain, the frequency of drinking alcoholic beverages as well as the participation in gambling activities are major issues on the territory of the Czech Republic and they require authorities’ urgent attention.
The Czech Republic is among the countries where the consumption of alcoholic drinks is widespread. Approximately 15% of adults drink alcohol every day. As for the underaged population of the Czech Republic, teenagers are said to use alcoholic beverages more frequently than their peers in the other countries.
An alarming tendency for an increased number of students in the elementary school who use alcohol is also worthy of mentioning. The amendment will make the rules for selling alcohol to underaged more severe.
The other issue is the participation in gambling activities and the Czech Republic is among the top countries that provide the residents with excessive number of gambling opportunities.
Currently, there are 7 gambling machines available per 1,000 residents. By comparison, their number in Slovakia, Germany and Poland is respectively 3.7, 3 and 0.6.
Many players, based in the Czech Republic, prefer to make their bets online, that is why the online gambling industry is thriving. However, not all of them place their bets via regulated websites.
As reported, the foreign gambling platforms that are illegal on the territory of the Czech Republic generate significant revenues.
The number of residents in danger of facing gambling issues is 170,000 and more than half of them are actually in risk of becoming addicts.
According to the new strategy, authorities are going to monitor and prosecute any unregulated form of gambling activities or to be more precise the usage of “addictive substances and gambling” will be penalized.
Regulators are hopeful that the new strategy will be successful but the results of it will be revealed in the early spring of 2019.
