Last year, 15,051 addiction treatments were started in Catalonia, according to the latest data from the Catalan Observatory of Drugs and Behavioral Addictions. The majority (14,137) correspond to drugs and the rest (914) to behavioral addictions. Alcohol and gambling lead these chapters.
Apart from tobacco, alcohol is the most consumed substance and the one that causes the most demand for care, the most impact on health and the most socioeconomic consequences. For years, the demand for alcohol treatment has represented almost half of all requests for cessation. In 2022, 6,306 treatments were started, the highest number since 2016 and close to the record registered in 2010. 76% of people who start treatment are men with an average of 47 years old.
The report points out the low perception of risk as the key to consumption that is present in 27% of dead drivers (2021), in 56% of the 21,476 hospital emergencies related to drug use and in more than a third of consultations on drugs and addictions. However, screening for risky consumption carried out by primary care has decreased in recent years, a circumstance that, in the opinion of the authors of the work, leads us to think that “many people in need of treatment for alcohol dependence do not reach to the (63) drug addiction care and monitoring centers (CAS).”
Cocaine is the illegal substance with the greatest impact on health in Catalonia. It is present in 65% of the cases of death due to an acute reaction to psychoactive substances and last year it motivated 24% (3,355 cases) of the treatments initiated in the CAS. 83% correspond to men with an average age of 40 years who began using around the age of 24, which means that it takes them 16 years to begin detoxification.
Unlike alcohol and cocaine, the number of treatments for cannabis fell – although slightly – last year compared to the previous year. 1,898 detoxification therapies began with the youngest age group, with 42% under 25 years of age.
Regarding heroin, the number of requests for treatment remains at the lowest level in the historical series since 1987. It represents 9% (1,263) of cases of initiation of treatment, when in the 90s it was more than 50 %. 87% are men, with an average age of 44 years, the majority live in a very vulnerable situation (only 18% report working), and almost all of them (88%) had made previous attempts to quit this drug.
Regarding behavioral addictions, 76% of the 914 treatments initiated correspond to gambling disorders. Behind them, video games (7%) and sex addiction (6%). 85% of the therapies correspond to men and 15% to women (gambling, 53%; and shopping, 23%).
They began therapy for addiction to opioid drugs. According to experts, weak opioids indicated for moderate pain “have had sustained growth since 2014.” The consumption of strong opioids – such as fentanyl – has registered an increase year after year, but at a lower intensity, with the prevalent profile being that of women over 45 years of age.