Combinations of prescription drug misuse and illicit drugs among young adults

Abstract

Background Prescription drug misuse remains a critical drug trend. Data indicate that young adults in nightlife scenes misuse prescription drugs at high rates. As such, continued surveillance of the patterns of prescription drug misuse among young adults is necessary, particularly assessments that spotlight specific areas of risk, such as polydrug use. Methods Prevalence and correlates of recent combinations of prescription drugs and other substances among urban young adults recruited at nightlife venues using time-space sampling are assessed via prevalence estimates and logistic regression analyses. Results Overall, 16.4% of the sample reported combining illicit drug use with prescription drug misuse. Of those who reported any prescription drug misuse, 65.9% used prescription drugs in combination with at least one of the illicit drugs assessed. The most common combination was marijuana, followed by alcohol, cocaine, ecstasy, and psychedelics. Being male and identifying as gay, lesbian, or bisexual predicted the combination of prescription drugs with ecstasy, cocaine, and psychedelics. Conclusions Rates of combining alcohol and illicit drug use with prescription drug misuse were high, especially among men and those identified as a sexual minority. These rates are alarming in light of the host of negative health outcomes associated with combining prescription and illicit drugs.

Misuse of pharmaceuticals by regular psychostimulant users is linked to mental health problems

“…Receipt of mental health medication was not significantly related to misuse of the pharmaceuticals, and the pattern of medications received did not align with those misused, suggesting that the visits to MH professionals were not likely to be "doctor shopping" for illicit use (Maxwell, 2011;Worley, 2012). These potential harms were not accounted for by increased frequency of psychostimulant use, suggesting there may be a role in the mental health problems that is specific to the polypharmacy reported by regular "recreational" drug users (Kelly, Wells, Pawson, LeClair, & Parsons, 2014;Smith, Farrell, Bunting, Houston, & Shevlin, 2011;Wilkins et al, 2011).…”

Educação Em Saúde Com Pessoas Usuárias De Álcool E Outras Drogas

“…Um padrão de abuso de drogas concomitantes entre o álcool, tabaco, maconha, ecstasy e derivados de anfetamina (1,3) e medicamentos (2) são associações que aumentam substancialmente os riscos e danos à saúde, sobretudo quando somado à desvantagem social (16) , condição semelhante às dos sujeitos do estudo.…”

“…Também se observa aumento deste comportamento em diversos segmentos sociais (1)(2)(3) . Em relação à saúde, o uso crônico de substâncias psicoativas provoca danos nas dimensões fisiológicas, sociais e econômicas (1,(4)(5)(6) .…”

Nonmedical Use of Prescription Drugs and Sexual Risk Behaviors

“…[27][28][29] Furthermore, IDU is an important behavioral covariate, as it has been associated with HIV infection and SRBs and may be related to NMUPD: NMUPD has been implicated as a gateway behavior for later IDU. [29][30][31] However, adjusting for highly correlated variables introduced a concern for multicollinearity in our models.…”