Abstract
Background and Aims | The main aim of this survey among students in the bachelor's programme in addictology at the First Faculty of Medicine of Charles University was to identify their attitudes towards selected drug-related issues. Methodology | A questionnaire survey was conducted which contained questions about attitudes to drug users and opinions about the drug policy.
The questions were based on the items used in surveys of public opinion involving the general Czech population. The group consisted of 46 students (39 women and seven men) from the first to third years; 32 were full-time students and 14 were enrolled in the part-time ("combined") form of study.
Results | A total of 87% of the students thought that the treatment of drug addicts should be free of charge, 68% disagreed with the statement that treatment should be free only for a limited number of attempts, 91% thought that every drug addict has a good chance of recovering, 98% agreed that drug counselling should be free of charge, and 100% agreed that syringes should be given out for free. The majority (76%) of the students were in favour of the legalization of the possession and cultivation of cannabis.
As regards the question of how society should treat drug users, the students tended to prefer a tolerant attitude. They showed a preference for prevention, education, and the scaling-up of care for those in need as a way of addressing the drug problems.
Conclusion | Addictology students' attitudes are relatively tolerant and generally differ from the attitudes shown by the general population, which seems to hold quite conservative and repressive attitudes. However, agreement has been found in opinions about prevention and education as the solution to drug problems.