Gambling on a par with drugs in Czech Republic

Czech Republic government is bringing its gambling reduction policies in line with its drug policies.

A policy document has been published which replaces the word drugs with “addictive substances and gambling”.

Gambling is legal in the Czech Republic but the government is keen to curb its influence, as the market is currently not heavily regulated.

The document will be valid until the end of 2018, with the results of the strategy published by March 2019.

National anti-drug coordinator Jindrich Voboril told CTK Czech news agency that the new plan is to restrict access to gambling.

There were 7.5 gambling machines per 1,000 inhabitants in the Czech Republic in 2013, compared with 3.7 in Slovakia, three in Germany, 0.6 in Poland and 0.3 in Austria.