Overseas-based online pharmacies dispense prescription medications without a prescription, thus creating an alternative source of pharmaceuticals for people using illicit drugs. Health professionals need to be aware of this new drug source, which may change the rates and patterns of illicit drug use in Australia. Because of the nature of the Internet, this issue needs to be dealt with at both a...

Previous chapters in this monograph have noted a general lack of epidemiological data concerning illicit drug use in rural America, a lack that extends to the health consequences of substance misuse behaviors among rural dwellers. Urban population studies indicate that the major health risks associated with illicit drug use are hepatitis (users are 12 times as likely as nonusers to contract hep...

The post-9/11 war against terrorism has increased international attention to illicit drug business as a source of terrorist financing. For politicians and the media, the contentious term narcoterrorism has become fashionable. While the term implies a full merger between terrorism and drug business, the interrelationship between them is more accurately described in terms of linkages. As terroris...

AIMS To determine the relationship between methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) and hepatitis C (HCV) seroconversion among illicit drug users. DESIGN A generalized estimating equation model assuming a binomial distribution and a logit-link function was used to examine for a possible protective effect of MMT use on HCV incidence. SETTING Data from three prospective cohort studies of illicit d...

Sequence of drug use was examined in a secondary analysis of two samples of serious drug users: one of 152 men and one of 133 women. The proportions of drug users following specified patterns of drug use onset were compared to proportions obtained in previous research in samples of high school youth, and serious drug users. The serious drug users were substantially different from high school sa...

BACKGROUND Because heroin supply changes cannot be measured directly, their impact on populations is poorly understood. British Columbia has experienced an injection drug use epidemic since the 1980s that resulted in 2,590 illicit drug deaths from 1990-1999. Since previous work indicates heroin seizures can correlate with supply and B.C. receives heroin only from Southeast Asia, this study exam...

BACKGROUND Illicit drug use is an important public health problem. Identifying conditions that coexist with illicit drug use is necessary for planning health services. This study described the prevalence and factors associated with social and health problems among clients seeking treatment for illicit drug use. METHODS We carried out cross-sectional analyses of baseline data of 2526 clients w...

BACKGROUND Illicit drug use/dependence has been recognized as a major problem. Clinical studies demonstrate that poor sleep quality is associated with increased frequency of drug use and relapse. However, few studies have addressed the issue of sleep quality among illicit drug dependent subjects. METHODS This cross-sectional study explored sleep quality in drug dependent subjects in China. We...

This chapter examines the impact of interview privacy on self-reported illicit drug use. In 1991, interviews were completed with an urban-suburban sample of 2,417 adults aged 18 to 45. Results show that the presence of third parties during the interview significantly influences respondents' willingness to reveal illicit drug use. Among married respondents, presence of a spouse resulted in highe...

OBJECTIVES To estimate the prevalence of illicit use of substances and identify the factors associated with illicit drug use among male students in the state-run Kuwait University and private universities in Kuwait. SUBJECTS AND METHODS The study was a cross-sectional survey with a sample of 1,587 male students from both private universities (n = 869) and the public (n = 718) Kuwait Universit...