In order to be optimally effective, continuing training programmes for health-care professionals need to be tailored so that they target specific knowledge deficits, both in terms of topic content and appropriate intervention strategies. A first step in designing tailored treatment programmes is to identify the characteristics of the relevant health-care professional group, their current levels...

Background: Substance abuse is one of the main health problems in Iran and awareness about its spread and procedure of spread in the society, particularly the susceptible society of students, is very important with regard to the population pyramid of Iran. Methods: This study was performed by cross-sectional method. The sampling size was 610 male students in pre-university grade by a probabilis...

Besides the psychoactive Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), hashish and marijuana as well as cannabis-based medicine extracts contain varying amounts of cannabidiol (CBD) and of the degradation product cannabinol (CBN). The additional determination of these compounds is interesting from forensic and medical points of view because it can be used for further proof of cannabis exposure and becau...

INTRODUCTION Body packing takes advantage of the human storage capacity within the alimentary tract. Body packing is used for the smuggling of drugs such as heroin, cocaine, amphetamine, hashish and ecstasy. Most body packers are asymptomatic. However, packets may rupture or obstruct the alimentary tract. Preventive surgery has been recommended for body packers with package retention beyond 5-7...

Huestis and Cone reported in [J. Anal. Toxicol. 22 (1998) 445] that serial monitoring of D-THC-COOH/creatinine ratios in paired urine specimens collected at least 24 h apart could differentiate new drug use from residual D-THC-COOH excretion following acute marijuana use in a controlled setting. The best accuracy (85.4%) for predicting new marijuana use was for a D-THC-COOH/creatinine ratio 0.5...

Iran has fallen victim to the dire repercussion of malady certain historical, social, and geographic influence namely the proximity with Afghanistan as the largest producer of narcotics in the world. 1 With addition prevailing in Iran, 2 Iran has been reported to have the highest rate of opiate (opium and heroin) use worldwide (450 mt a year). 1,3,4 Available statistics, namely United Nations O...

AIMS This study explores whether associations between anxiety and alcohol and other substance use are already evident in middle adolescence, and whether general anxiety or symptoms of social phobia affect continuity of frequent alcohol use, frequent drunkenness and cannabis use. METHODS Data from the Adolescent Mental Health Cohort Study, a school-based Finnish survey among adolescents aged 1...

Research of cannabinoid actions was boosted in the 1990s by remarkable discoveries including identification of endogenous compounds with cannabimimetic activity (endocannabinoids) and the cloning of their molecular targets, the CB1 and CB2 receptors. Although the existence of an endogenous cannabinoid signaling system has been established for a decade, its physiological roles have just begun to...

Recently, new trend toward non-opioid substances is observed in Iran. This is, therefore, to compare overdose of opioids and non-opioids origin. We performed this investigation to provide more detailed information so that preventive actions are taken in future. Over 18 month, 1876 individuals with opioid (opium, heroin, compact-heroin, buprenorphine and opiates) or non-opioid (MDMA (ecstasy), L...