BACKGROUND The Gateway Drug Theory suggests that licit drugs, such as tobacco and alcohol, serve as a "gateway" toward the use of other, illicit drugs. However, there remains some discrepancy regarding which drug-alcohol, tobacco, or even marijuana-serves as the initial "gateway" drug subsequently leading to the use of illicit drugs such as cocaine and heroin. The purpose of this investigation ...

Illicit drug consumption among youngsters is a public health concern that requires attention. However, little research has highlighted the importance of "drug information availability" among protection factors. The objective of the study is to identify, from the point of view of youngsters at risk, what factors could prevent them to try illicit drugs, focusing on the importance of "drug informa...

Background: It is not well understood whether the self-reported experience of substance abuse-related problems differs by socioeconomic status.Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis using the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) on participants who reported ever using illicit drugs or used illicit drugs in the past year.Findings: Among those reporting ever using illicit drugs...

This study examined the relationship between sexual orientation and substance use among a nationally representative sample of U.S. college and university students. Data from the 1999 College Alcohol Survey were analyzed to compare marijuana and other illicit drug use among heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual students. Findings indicate no significant differences in either marijuana or other ...

BACKGROUND Since 2007 the economic recession has hit most industrial countries and this raises the question of how economic hardship affects illicit drug users' decisions to enter drug treatment. METHODS We test the hypothesis that an improvement in the employment prospects, as measured by a decline in unemployment, strengthens the intrinsic motivation of an unemployed drug user to enter trea...

Rapid socio-economic changes in recent history have created the environment in which the drug problem as we know it has taken shape and started to exhibit the characteristics mentioned above. Over the past decade, established illicit drug markets in the industrialized countries have shown signs of stabilization, while the growth of illicit drug use has continued to accompany socio-economic tran...

Background: Drug use disorders are one of the major health problems in societies, which cause physical, psychological, and social damages to individuals. Socioeconomic status is often inversely associated with drug use disorders. The present study aimed at determining the effect of socioeconomic inequality on the prevalence of drug use disorders and identifying its determinants in Iran.  ...

Illicit drug consumption among youngsters is a public health concern that requires attention. However, little research has highlighted the importance of "drug information availability" among protection factors. The aim of this article is to identify, from the point of view of youngsters at risk, what factors could prevent them to try illicit drugs, focusing on the importance of "drug informatio...

© 2017 Kristen Whitworth. Cavalieri. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The first case connecting vasculitis to levamisole adulterated cocaine was published in 2010. Since that time, there have been numerous case reports of complications arising from levamisole contaminated cocaine. A case report in 2011 suggested the use o...