Prague, Jan 23 (CTK) – Every ninth adult person in the Czech Republic drinks alcohol at least four times a week and the same proportion, 11 percent over 18, drink five and more half litres of beer, at least five glasses of liquor or over one litre of wine regularly, according to the poll conducted by the Nielsen Admosphere polling agency and released on Tuesday.
It was commissioned by the Open Man League (LOM).
Last October, the agency asked 1017 Czechs over 18 about alcohol drinking.
The LOM is preparing the campaign Dry February, when Czechs are to stay without a drop of alcohol for a month.
According to the latest annual report on drug use in the Czech Republic, the number of Czechs drinking alcohol on a daily basis is rising.
The proportion of those with excessive drinking, threatened by addiction, is growing, too.
Two years ago, alcohol was drunk by 600,000 Czechs every day, 100,000 of whom consuming five or more glasses.
The poll also examined the frequency of drinking and the amount of the drunk alcohol. It used a simple addiction test. Some 51 percent of the polled men and 44 percent of women, respectively, were on the brink of risk drinking.
One-fifth of men and 5 percent of women were past the boundary where addiction appears.
“This is a tremendous number, though not surprising and corresponding with other studies,” addiction expert Michal Miovsky said.
“In fact, alcohol drinking is not only widely tolerated, but it is also considered a part of national identity and culture,” he added.
The poll has revealed that one-quarter of Czechs drink alcohol twice or three times a week. Over one-third of adult Czechs drink a glass twice or four times a month.
Men, people with higher education and the rich tend to drink more often than the rest.
Two-fifths of Czechs say alcohol helps them have a rest from their worries. Some 36 percent of them associate it with some adventure. Roughly 16 percent of Czechs drink because the rest do.
According to the National Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction, problems with heavy drinking may be faced by up to 1.6 million adult Czechs, 900,000 of whom have a big risk of addiction in the 10.5 million Czech Republic.
