Pattern of Illegal Drug Use in Women Referred to Substance Abuse Control Clinic in Fasa, Iran (2009-2011)

Background & Objective: Women’s role as a consumer or as a person who is facing with risks is so important in studies of substance abuse. However, major studies on this field aimed at studying on male population. Therefore, the aim of this study described the pattern of using illegal drugs among women belong to substance abuse control clinic of  Fasa city (south of Iran).Materials & Methods: This cross sectional study as a census was done on all authorized substance abuse treatment centers in Fasa in summer 2011. Information about demographic data, types of drugs, method of using, duration of addiction and onset age was extracted from the files of self-referred women. Results: There were 88 women in Fasa substance abuse treatment centers who were 2.8% of all registered patients. The Mean age of drug onset was 30.8±11.8 years. 62 persons (70.5%) used opium and 55 persons (62.5%) used Opium sap which were indicated thatthese two drugs were the two common ones among addicted women. With the average of 9.4±7.1 years, Opium had the longest duration of use. There is only one woman who had used injection during the last month. Two of the women had sexual relationship out of the family in the last month in which one of them had the unsafe contact as well.Conclusion: Presently, the pattern of drug abuse among women in Fasa is traditional and is based on the opium derivatives. However, according to the increasing rate and changes in drugs type, monitoring the behavior of drug abuser can have an effective role on the improvement of health in a community.