April 7, 2018
A study conducted by Bloomberg finds that Slovenia is the 28th most affordable place in the world to get drunk and high, based on local purchasing power and an analysis of the average retail prices in the country for the following six items:
a premium and popular pack of cigarettes in the related market.
a bottle of alcoholic beverages including beer, wine and spirits
a gram of amphetamine-type stimulants, including methamphetamine and/or ecstasy
a gram of cannabis, including marijuana hashish resin and/or cannabis oil
a gram of cocaine, regardless of salts, paste or base forms
a gram of opioids, including heroin and/or opium
A basket of such items is reported to cost US$183.5 in Slovenia, or EUR 149.2 at today’s exchange rate, which would consume 41% of the average weekly income, putting the nation just between the Czech Republic (US$152, EUR 123.6) and Malta (US$218.3, EUR 177.5). This compares with the world’s most affordable country for these vice goods, Luxembourg, where the items would cost US$206.2 (EUR 167.66), but only require 10% of weekly income. Other nations where getting intoxicated is a relatively cheap affair are the Bahamas, in second place, followed by Switzerland, Iceland and France.
Turning to Slovenia’s immediate neighbors, while a basket of vice requires US$183.5 (EUR 149.5) on the sunny side of the Alps, in Italy it is said to cost US$192.6 (EUR 236.8), Austria US$214.3 (EUR 263.5), Hungary US$130.2 (EUR 160.1), and Croatia US$223.2 (EUR 274.5).
As reported on TSN last month, Ljubjana has among the highest consumptions of MDMA and cocaine in Europe, with relatively little use of methamphetamine.
A more complete summary of Bloomburg's report, and a link to the full study (behind a paywall), can be found here.
