As of 2019, there were 3,217 people imprisoned in Croatia with 163 incarcerated for drug law offences [1] for which illegal cultivation or production and processing of drugs with no intention to sell is punishable by a term ranging from 6 months to 5 years [2]. HIV prevalence in prisons was estimated in 2010 at 0.15% [3] and antiretroviral therapy (ART) is reported to be available to prisoners [4]. Opioid substitution therapy (OST) is also reported to be available in prisons, but needle/syringe programmes (NSP) are not [5].

The cost of imprisonment was €20,148 per prisoner, per year, or €55.20 per day in 2019 [6].

There were an estimated 6,300 people who inject drugs in Croatia in 2020 with an HIV prevalence of 0.5% [7]. NSP costs in 2018 were €75 per client, per year, with OST costing €809 per client, per year [8]. Unemployment benefit is provided at €2,551.80 per person, per year for the first 90 days of unemployment, following which the benefit amount falls to 60% thereafter [9].

Consequently, the cost to the government of providing assistance to a person who uses drugs in community settings totals €3,436 per year. This contrasts with the €20,148 to keep the same person in prison. Therefore, decriminalisation of drug possession and use could save the government of Croatia €16,712 per drug user, per year; based on the number of people in prison for drug law offences, the total savings could be as high as €2.7 million per year.

[1]    Aebi MF, Tiago MM. SPACE I – 2019 – Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics: Prison populations. Strasbourg; Council of Europe, 2020. https://wp.unil.ch/space/files/2021/02/200405_FinalReport_SPACE_I_2019.pdf (accessed 4 August 2021).
[2]    European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). Croatia Country Drug Report 2019. Luxembourg; Publications Office of the European Union, 2019. https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/system/files/publications/11343/croatia-cdr-2019_0.pdf (accessed 5 August 2021).
[3]    Burek V, Horvat J, Butorac K, Mikulić R. Viral hepatitis B, C and HIV infection in Croatian prisons. Epidemiology and Infection, 138(11), 1610-1620. doi:10.1017/S0950268810000476
[4]    Harm Reduction International (HRI). Global State of Harm Reduction 2020, Regional Overview 2.2 Eurasia. London; HRI, 2021. https://www.hri.global/files/2020/10/26/Global_State_HRI_2020_2_2_Eurasia_FA_WEB.pdf (accessed 3 August 2021).
[5]    Ibid.
[6]    Aebi M F, Tiago MM. SPACE I – 2020 – Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics: Prison populations. Strasbourg; Council of Europe, 2021. https://wp.unil.ch/space/files/2021/04/210330_FinalReport_SPACE_I_2020.pdf (accessed 3 August 2021).
[7]    HRI, Op.cit.
[8]    Information submitted by national partners.
[9]    WageIndicator Foundation. Minimum Wage – Croatia. https://wageindicator.org/salary/minimum-wage/croatia (accessed 5 August 2021); Croatian Employment Service. Unemployment benefit. https://www.hzz.hr/korisnicki-centar/novcana-naknada-za-nezaposlene/ (accessed 5 August 2021).