Around 22 percent of Czechs have tried drugs at least once in their life, and the number rises to 40 percent for youths aged between 18 and 24, the Pravo newspaper reported on Saturday, quoting a poll.

Marijuana is the best available, cheapest and the most widely used drug which some 58 percent of drug users have tried in their life, said the poll carried out by the Health Information and Statistics Institute.

The poll showed that marijuana and hashish are used mostly by young people with elementary and secondary education and by unemployed people.

The lowest number of drug addicts is among university-educated people and married people who have a stable job, the poll said.

It also revealed that Czechs on the whole are not tolerant towards drugs, with a mere 17 percent of them saying they would agree with marijuana's legalization.

The Czech Republic mapped out a five-year anti-drug strategy in 2004, but the situation remains grave. Experts have called on the government to take more drastic measures to fight the scourge.

Source: Xinhua