Poll: Are Poles afraid of opioids?

Biostat Research and Development Center conducted a survey "Poles' health - opioids" on the panel research-opinii.pl. The survey was conducted from June 28 to July 1, 2024 on a sample of 1,000 adult residents of Poland, representative by gender, age and province of residence.

Asked which three substances they consider the most harmful, Poles point primarily to cocaine (85.7 percent) and opioids such as codeine, morphine, heroin, fentanyl (84.9 percent). Alcohol is indicated as the third most dangerous substance (48.6 percent). Marijuana is indicated by 38.3 percent of survey participants, and nicotine by 37.2 percent. Caffeine was placed among the three most harmful substances by 4.9 percent of those questioned.

Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed (61.8 percent) rated opioids as more harmful than other psychoactive substances, with only 6.5 percent holding the opposite view. Nearly one-third had no opinion on the matter.

The study's authors went a step further and asked which substances in the opioid group were particularly dangerous. Half of the respondents pointed to fentanyl, three in ten to heroin. Codeine and morphine "won" 2 percent of the indications each. 8.5 percent of respondents admitted that they did not know which substance was more harmful than the others, a similar group admitted that they had difficulty answering this question.

Noteworthy, perceptions of individual substances are influenced by age. Younger respondents are clearly less likely to point to fentanyl, more likely to point to heroin. Fentanyl is indicated as one of the three most dangerous opioid substances by significantly fewer than the average of overall respondents aged 18 to 29 (37.7 percent) and those aged 30 to 39 (43 percent). Fentanyl is clearly of greater concern to Poles aged 50 to 59 (54.5 percent consider it the most dangerous) and those over 60 (57.8 percent). Heroin, on the other hand, is more often considered one of the three most dangerous opioids by those aged 18 to 29 (39.5 percent) and those aged 30 to 39 (35.2 percent).

Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed are aware that fentanyl has been linked to a recent wave of severe addictions worldwide. 16 percent link the recent wave of addictions to heroin, 3 percent to morphine, and the same number to codeine. 11 percent of respondents don't know which opioid can be linked to the recent wave of severe addictions.

Could Poland develop a similar problem faced by the US, among others? More than a quarter of respondents believe that mass fentanyl addictions will occur in our country. Four in ten estimate that the addiction problem will occur, but not on a large scale. Only 7 percent believe there will be no problem at all. Twenty-two percent can't answer the question, and only 3 percent admit they don't know what the issue is.

- In recent months there has been a flurry of media coverage of the opioid addiction problem in the United States. Fentanyl came to the fore as a particularly dangerous substance. A few weeks ago, the problem also began to be raised by domestic media, describing the appearance of "zombie people" on the streets of Polish cities. The topic of opioid addiction also appeared on one of the popular streaming platforms in the form of a series. The results of the survey may suggest that such a flurry of information caused the problem of opioid and fentanyl danger to break through into the consciousness of Poles, which, in my opinion, should be evaluated positively. This example also shows how big a role the media have to play in the issue of preventive health care," comments Sebastian Musiol, a methodology expert at Biostat Research and Development Center.

In a meeting with journalists this week, Health Minister Izabela Leszczyna appealed to the media to report responsibly on the dangers of opioids, so that publications on the subject do not - especially for young people - provide an opportunity to learn about unauthorized access or use of these drugs.