This study aimed at investigating the relationship between the use of unprescribed licit and illicit drugs and problematic drinking with reported depressive symptoms and suicidal behaviour in a nationwide general population sample of 4291 respondents aged 12 to 64. Depressive symptoms were detected by the use of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). A higher proportio...

AIMS This study evaluated the effectiveness of a brief intervention (BI) for illicit drugs (cannabis, cocaine, amphetamine-type stimulants and opioids) linked to the World Health Organization (WHO) Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST). The ASSIST screens for problem or risky use of 10 psychoactive substances, producing a score for each substance that falls into eit...

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...

Notwithstanding a century of prohibition, marijuana is the most widely used illicit substance in Canada. Due to the growing public acceptance of recreational marijuana use and ineffectiveness of the existing control system in Canada, the issue surrounding legalizing this illicit drug has received considerable public and political attentions in recent years. Consequently, the newly elected Liber...

Substance abuse poses significant health risks to childbearing-aged women in the United States and, for those who become pregnant, to their children. Alcohol is the most prevalent substance consumed by childbearing-aged women, followed by tobacco, and a variety of illicit drugs. Substance use in the preconception period predicts substance use during the prenatal period. Evidence-based methods f...

Background: Rhabdomyolysis is one of the major complications of poisoning caused by alcohol, narcotics, and psychotropic substances acute toxicity, which might lead to acute renal failure and even death. This study aimed to evaluate clinical and laboratory findings of rhabdomyolysis syndrome in poisoning patients who were admitted to poisoning ward of Farshchian Hospital of Hamadan, Iran. Meth...

The present study examined substance refusal skills of 44 conduct-disordered male adolescents. Fifty percent of these adolescents were dually diagnosed with substance abuse/dependence. Substance refusal skills were assessed utilizing a role-play test that consisted of four interpersonal scenarios in which a confederate prompted youths to engage in illicit drug and alcohol activity. The test dem...

Objective: To review what is known about young people’s drug use in Australia and to evaluate whether illicit drug use has become normalised among Australian youth. Method: Survey data and social research findings on young people’s illicit drug use are reviewed and evaluated against the criteria of the normalisation thesis. The utility of the normalisation thesis is assessed in the Australian c...