**1. Introduction**

Initial research work focusing on the issue of illegal addictive substance abuse in Czech prisons started to emerge in the first half of 1990s. Interesting were the results of one of the first researches done in 1992 where the authors found out that the age structure of addicted prison inmates and the other inmates did not differ. The authors estimate that the total number of illegal drug users is around 4% but some internal sources say 6% because only the users who met the addiction criteria based on international classification were included in the basic file, i.e. those who showed the signs of addiction only in terms of medicine, which is only one of many possible aspects of illegal drug use [1]. As far as the spectrum of substances used is concerned, stimulants, benzodiazepines, cannabinoids and opioids dominate distinctly. Then barbiturates, amphetamines, cocaine and THC. If we tried to divide a group of prison inmates into groups based on drugs used, the order would be as follows:


Drug use in prison takes all forms including smoking, snuffing, swallowing, sniffing or intravenous application. There is a lower probability of intravenous

application among juvenile criminals than among adults, and in prison population there is a higher probability of intravenous application among women than among men [2]. Several studies in prisons revealed that about one third of imprisoned adult men applied drugs intravenously. A question arises in this respect about the access to sterile kits for intravenous application of drugs, hygienic standards and possibility of spreading infectious diseases. Pharmaceutical drug addiction represents a specific category of addiction. These include pharmaceuticals with analgesic, hypnotic and anxiolytic effects typical of the population of addicts who are dependent on these medications in the long term. Long-term use may result in psychological or somatic dependence. Medications used most frequently include analgesics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and hypnotics (e.g. Rohypnol) [3].
