STUDY OBJECTIVE To define, among a sample of college students, the nature and extent of nonmedical use of prescription stimulants (NPS), including both overuse and use of someone else's drug, for attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); to characterize NPS among individuals not medically using a prescription stimulant for ADHD; and to determine whether NPS and overuse of a medically pre...

Data on illicit drug purity and prices are invaluable but challenging. Academic purists argue they are unsuitable for economic analysis [Manski, C.F., Pepper, J.V., Petrie, C.V., 2001. Informing America's Policy on Illegal Drugs: What We Don't Know Keeps Hurting Us. National Academy Press, Washington, DC], but in practice they are used frequently [ONDCP, 2001a. What America's Users Spend on Ill...

Use of illicit stimulant drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine, and ecstasy are a significant worldwide problem. However, little is known about the effect of these drugs on movement. The aim of the current study was to investigate hand function in adults with a history of illicit stimulant use. We hypothesized that prior use of illicit stimulant drugs is associated with abnormal manipulation o...

BACKGROUND Chronic hepatitis C infection is common in drug users. Treatment of injectors is possible under controlled conditions, but many have not yet been included in treatment programmes as there are concerns about their ability to comply with therapy. It is not known which factors influence compliance. AIM To examine the hypothesis that active drug users would comply with anti-viral thera...

This article provides a review of drug use surveys conducted by Costa Rica's Institute on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence during the years 1983-1987. These studies dealt with a wide range of subjects--residents of marginal neighborhoods, juvenile male and adult female detainees, and high school students--as well as with the general population. Overall, the studies indicated that the most commonl...

BACKGROUND Use of illicit drugs induces multiple nutrient deficiencies. Drug habit, sexual practice and socioeconomic factors influence the nutrient profile of drug dependent subjects. The literature on this issue is still insufficient. This study has tested the hypothesis that illicit drug use and lifestyle impair mineral status. To test this hypothesis, 253 men multiple drug users of age 18-4...

Illicit drugs occupy an ambivalent position in late modern society; one that revolves around the twin themes of pleasure and disapproval. Drawing on Freudian psychoanalysis and Eliasian sociology this article considers how people, particularly those who use drugs, negotiate such ambivalence. Patterns of drug use and associated attitudes are examined on the basis of the Crime Survey for England ...

Cannabis and other illicit drugs are often used or abused comorbidly. Two competing theories to explain this comorbidity are (i) the phenotypic causation (gateway) model and (ii) the correlated liabilities model. We used data from 1191 male and 934 female same-sex twin pairs to test 13 genetically informative models of comorbidity. Models were fit separately for use and abuse/dependence in both...