Poland's tobacco and alcohol consumption crisis. Insights from a new report

According to a substance use report by the Institute of Health at the Academy of Polonia in Częstochowa, Poland consumes 50 billion cigarettes and approximately 100 billion electronic cigarettes each year, alongside a notable problem with strong alcohol.

Alcohol addiction or alcoholism concept

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Statistics indicate that approximately 25% of Poles smoke, and the annual alcohol consumption per capita is close to 12 liters.

Poles not only consume 137 million cigarettes daily but also confront a significant alcohol issue, with 12 million citizens affected and approximately five million severely addicted to alcohol.

"About one and a half million require treatment, with only 15 percent of those treated," specifies Prof. Maciej Rudnicki, the university rector who prepared the report.

Ethyl alcohol stands out as the most addictive toxin among commonly available substances. The pandemic has worsened this issue, shifting away from the previous trend of westernization (where low-proof alcohol was more common) to an Eastern model marked by increased consumption of high-proof beverages.

Source: IAR

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