OBJECTIVE Data on use and misuse of six classes of illicit substances by male twin pairs were used to examine whether genetic and shared environmental risk factors for substance use disorders are substance-specific or -nonspecific in their effect. METHOD Lifetime history of use and abuse/dependence of cannabis, cocaine, hallucinogens, sedatives, stimulants, and opiates was assessed at persona...

Illicit drugs are widely used by inner city patients and their use by pregnant women has increased in recent years. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of polysubstance abuse among parturients at our institution who received no prenatal care ('unbooked') and to determine the accuracy of the Ontrak TesTcup an in vitro immunodiagnostic assay. We prospectively analysed urine from...

BACKGROUND Prescription drug abuse and illicit drug use are common in chronic pain patients. Adherence monitoring with screening tests, and urine drug testing, periodic monitoring with prescription monitoring programs, has become a common practice in recent years. Random drug testing for appropriate use of opioids and use of illicit drugs is often used in pain management practices. Thus, it is ...

• The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy conducted a survey and found that between 1988 and 1995, Americans spent over $57 billion on illegal drugs of abuse. • The Lewin Group for the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that in 1992, the estimated total economic cost of alcohol and drug abuse was $245.7 billion. This estimate included the cost for substance abuse treatment, c...

BACKGROUND The United States is faced with an unprecedented epidemic of drug abuse. Every year thousands of Americans visit the emergency departments all over the country with illicit drug related complaints. These drugs have been known to be associated with a range of renal pathologies, from reversible acute kidney injuries to debilitating irreversible conditions like renal infarction. So far,...

CONTEXT Comprehensive descriptions of substance use and abuse trajectories have been lacking in nationally representative samples of adolescents. OBJECTIVE To examine the prevalence, age at onset, and sociodemographic correlates of alcohol and illicit drug use and abuse among US adolescents. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey of adolescents using a modified version of the Composite International...

BACKGROUND Illicit drug abuse is an important health problem around the world. Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug, followed by amphetamines, opioids, and cocaine. In this study, we searched the socio-demographic features of drug abusers admitted to an emergency department. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was performed in the emergency department of an education and training hospi...

Applying the concept of ‘‘secondary deviance’’ from Labeling Theory, this study hypothesizes that perceptions of disability labeling are relevant to individuals’ acceptance of disability. Such reactions may lead to an entitlement attitude toward substance use and encourage further deviant activities such as illicit drug use. The Žndings from our analyses tend to conŽrm our expectations that per...

The abuse of licit and illicit drugs [“drugs” throughout this chapter refers to tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs] has placed an extraordinary burden on the Nation’s health, human service, and criminal justice systems (Rice 1991; National Institute of Justice 1993). Alcohol, a licit drug, is misused by more Americans than any other drug. A smaller number of Americans use illicit drugs, but the ...