Given the complex and dramatic array of issues currently facing us in reproductive ethics, bioethicists working on the topic might be forgiven feelings of trepidation when they cast their minds toward the next century. Currently, technologies such as artificial insemination by donor (AID), once the source of intense controversy, are used on a routine basis; mainstream newspapers carry advertise...

Cannabis is one of the most popular recreational drugs. The rates of use and dosage, based on the levels of active compounds present in street drugs, is thought to be climbing in the UK and Europe; 40% of 15 years olds in the UK are thought to have tried the drug. There is no dispute that cannabis intoxication can cause brief psychotic episodes or short-term relapse of pre-existing psychotic sy...

Introduction: Children, who work or live at streets, are one of the HIV high risk groups in Iran, with no comprehensive preventive programs. This study intended to assess substance use among street children in Tehran, Capital of Iran. Methods: This paper is a part of comprehensive rapid assessment and response (RAR) research on street children in Tehran i...

BACKGROUND Drug misuse is an important clinical problem associated with a poorer outcome in patients who have a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Qualitative studies have rarely been used to elicit reasons for drug use in psychosis, but not in schizophrenia. METHODS Seventeen people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and who had used street drugs were interviewed and asked to describe, in narrative ...

BACKGROUND Although most physicians are aware of the potential for abuse and resale of prescribed medications, little has been done to document it. The purpose of this study was to determine which prescription drugs have street value, what that value is and why these drugs are used. METHODS A descriptive cross-sectional survey using a semistructured interview technique was carried out on 2 we...

MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-methylamphetamine, a.k.a. "ecstasy") was first synthesized in 1912 and resynthesized more than once for pharmaceutical reasons before it became a popular recreational drug. Partially based on previously overlooked U.S. government documentation, this article reconstructs the early history of MDMA as a recreational drug in the U.S. from 1960 to 1979. According to the lite...

BACKGROUND There has been little systematic investigation of widespread reports of drugging and sexual assault. We sought to determine the prevalence of and factors associated with suspected drug-facilitated sexual assault. METHODS Between June 2005 and March 2007, a total of 977 consecutive sexual assault victims underwent screening for suspected drugging at 7 hospital-based sexual assault t...

While the public health problem of psychoactive drug use is well recognized, the emerging phenomenon of non-medical use of prescription opioids has been largely ignored in Canada. Most evidence on this issue and related harms in North America to date come from the United States (US), where the prevalence of non-medical opioid use in key populations, as well as related morbidity and mortality, r...

The analytical properties for a new street drug, 4-methylthioamphetamine (4-MTA), are presented. This new compound was found in tablets sold on the illicit market in the Netherlands and Switzerland in 1997 and 1998. The intermediate 1-(4-methylthiophenyl)-2-nitropropene was also found in a clandestine laboratory in the Netherlands in January 1997. In this study, reference standards were prepare...

Demographic data The study was undertaken at Whittall Street STI clinic, Birmingham. Of the 334 cases of gonococcal infection, 216 (64.7%) were male. Ages ranged from 14 to 58 years. Ethnicity data revealed that 179 (53.6%) cases were Afro-Caribbean, 64 (19.2%) were white, 25 (7.5%) were other specified groups, there was no information regarding the ethnic origin of the remaining 66 (19.8%). Wh...