Illicit drug use is clearly an important health problem. There are some 600,000 emergency department episodes in the US every year that are related to illicit drugs (SAMHSA, 2002a). National mortality estimates are not available, but there are probably on the order of 20,000 drug-induced deaths a year (SAMHSA, 2002b), with many more indirectly related to drug use. Some 5 million Americans are i...

Results. The results show that among girls the lifetime illicit drugs use increased statistically significantly from 2.5% in 1999 to 7.5% in 2003 and to 15% in 2011. Among boys the trend was also increasing, the prevalence of illicit drug use was 14.2% at T1, 18.1% at T2, and it increased dramatically to 30.6% at T3. The percentage of students reporting cannabis use was almost identical with th...

conclusions globally, interventions that comprise evidence-based prevention, care and treatment of substance use disorders in young adults are vital to reduce the transmission of hiv infection and promote good clinical outcomes for young adults at-risk for living with hiv. context young adults comprise roughly one-quarter of the global population and are at the developmental stage where persona...

BACKGROUND In 2004, the Survey on Drug Use and Health showed that 5% of American women reported use of an illicit drug during pregnancy. The results of studies determining the association between periconceptional illicit drug use and birth defects have been inconsistent. METHODS We analyzed data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, a case-control study of major birth defects, and...

BACKGROUND According to the 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 4.6% of American women reported use of an illicit drug during pregnancy. Previous studies on illicit drug use during pregnancy and perinatal outcomes showed inconsistent results. METHODS This population-based study included mothers who delivered live-born infants without birth defects between 1997 and 2004 and completed ...

BACKGROUND Young men who have sex with men (YMSM) continue to be at elevated risk for substance use; however, models explaining this phenomenon have often focused on a limited array of explanatory constructs. This study examined the longitudinal relationship of contextual risk factors, social cognitive processes, mental health, and health protective behavior to identify key mechanisms of illici...

BACKGROUND Drug users' organizations have made progress in recent years in advocating for the health and human rights of people who use illicit drugs but have historically not emphasized the needs of people who drink alcohol. METHODS This paper reports on a qualitative participatory needs assessment with people who use illicit substances in British Columbia, Canada. We held workshops in 17 co...

BACKGROUND Globally, illicit drugs are responsible for many fatalities annually, yet accurate data on the nature and extent of these deaths in South Africa (SA) are lacking. OBJECTIVES To investigate the presence and profile of illicit drugs detected in deceased persons who were subjected to medicolegal autopsies and upon whom analyses were carried out in search of illicit drugs in their body...

BACKGROUND The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) prescribes that drug testing is conducted in sports competitions to detect drug use in athletes. This testing includes performance-enhancing drugs as well as illicit substances such as marijuana, amphetamines and cocaine. Illicit drugs are tested for on match days but not on non-match days. Some athletes are known to use illicit substances for recr...

BACKGROUND Peer methodology (PM) is an adaptation of the privileged access interviewer methodology and is used for prevalence studies. PM estimates higher drug consumption frequencies among school and college students than self reports, since it minimizes underreporting. AIM To assess drug abuse among students using PM. MATERIAL AND METHODS A random sample of 234 school students of middle a...