Comparison of attitudes of young citizens of the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia towards liberalization of legislation related to possession of small amounts of marijuana and other drugs

Abstract

Background: We discuss the countries that have liberalized legislation on the possession of small amounts of marijuana and other drugs, and explore the justifications that inclined authorities to introduce such changes. The Czech Republic is among these countries. We compared the prevailing opinions on this issue by conducting surveys among young people living in Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. Material/Methods: The data were collected with the help of Polish, Czech, and Slovak versions of the questionnaire. The data were acquired during 3 focus studies organized at the Department of Health Care, University of Trenčín, Slovakia, the Department of Health Care Studies, Tomas Bata University, Zlin, Czech Republic, and the Institute of Nursing, University of Applies Sciences, Nysa, Poland. We gathered the answers from 27 students of nursing in Zlin, from 43 students in Trenčín, and 33 students in Nysa. Results: It appears that even in the Czech Republic, many young people disagree with the liberalization of legislation for the possession of small amounts of drugs. The proportion of young Polish students who do not positively assess such legislation is similar. In Slovakia, young people overwhelmingly judge such legislation negatively. Conclusions: 1. The lack of social approval for the legal possession of small amounts of marijuana makes it difficult to fight dangerous “new psychoactive substances”. 2. Since many young people in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia does not approve of the liberalization of legislation on possessing small amounts of marijuana and other drugs, it is necessary to verify the hypotheses explaining the nature of these prejudices. © Med Sci Tech, 2016.