Consumption Of Alcohol And Drugs Falls In Spain

CONSUMPTION of alcohol and drugs falls in Spain while online gambling remains stable.

Despite what one might expect to hear about excesses during the coronavirus pandemic, and a new study has shown that the consumption of alcohol, marihuana and prescription drugs has actually fallen in recent months. In addition, while the amount of time spent online has grown exponentially, the number of people using the internet to gamble has remained relatively stable.

This latest information was gathered by the ‘OEDA-COVID-2020 Survey’ carried out by the Ministry of Health and the National Plan on Drugs in November and December last year. The survey conducted 8,780 telephone interviews, 7,886 of which were with people aged between 15 and 64 years of age.

A sample of the population that gives “ a very exact snapshot of what has happened in Spain” during this time period, according to Joan Villalbi of the National Drug Plan.

In response to the data, the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, has indicated that “it is possible to change habits and addictive tendencies,” so her department will explore “all avenues” to maintain this path once the pandemic ends.

Overall, the data shows a decrease in the consumption of alcoholic beverages in both sexes and across all age groups, from 62 per cent before the pandemic to 57.3 per cent at the tail end of 2020.

In early 2020, the prevalence of cannabis use among 16-64 year olds was at 7.8 per cent, much higher in men than in women at 10.6 per cent versus 4.9 per cent.

Later in the year, these values ​​decrease to 6.5 per cent in the total, to 8.5 per cent in men and 4.4 per cent in women, while 3.5 per cent of the population has stopped using cannabis or has decreased it, and only 1 per cent admitted that they had started using the drug. 

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