Study on the Use of Illicit Drugs and Its Relation with Smoking, Alcoholism and Graduation Area, in Undergraduate Population of the City of São Paulo, Brazil
Authors: Rebecchi Cassio , Mendes Maria Clara Chaves , Latrônico Alice Messias Amaral , Taricano Ingrid Dragan 
Published: June 2021

Drug abuse and addiction are health problems and social problems. Addiction is a chronic, relapsing illness, characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use. At the most general level, research has shown that drug abuse is a dual‐edged health issue, as well as a social issue. It affects both the health of the individual and the health of the public, so professionals in the field call it physical dependence. Not surprisingly, most users of illicit drugs have used marijuana first. In fact, most drug users begin with alcohol and nicotine before marijuana usually before they are of legal age. The present study was aimed at evaluating the use, relations and frequency of illicit drugs, tobacco and alcohol with undergraduate students (several undergraduate areas) from the city of São Paulo, Brazil, covering samples from the north, south, east, west and center regions. The study sample comprised 907 undergraduate students.

METHODOLOGY

The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire with 25 items in Google FormsTM format, and include questions about use of alcoholic beverages, tobacco, illicit drugs and graduation. The instant addition of responses to the data set makes this tool appealing for research purposes. Additionally, the respondents involved in the study has been regularly using Google FormsTM, and it was therefore considered the most appropriate method for data collection. The results of the survey were statistically analyzed. Within the various areas, the group of students from medical, biology, nursing, engineering, architecture, psychology, and other undergraduate areas, were chosen because their experience using these tools.

RESULTS

Among the 907 students who volunteered for such study, 347 (38.25%) already used illicit drugs, 594 (65.49%) alcoholic beverages and 95 (10.47%) are smokers. Among those who have used illicit drugs, 182 (52.44%) related such use to alcoholic beverages and 56 (16.13%) related to tobacco use. Such data are alarming since more than half of university students, who have used illicit drugs also consume alcoholic beverages, despite the restrictions imposed by federal laws.

CONCLUSIONS

Our concern should be to prevent young people drugs, tobacco and alcohol use. We know that someone who gets to age 21 without smoking, using drugs or abusing alcohol is virtually certain never to do so. Consider for example, that most people who have used marijuana did so first during adolescence. Overcoming of this problems require preventive education.

This work was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration. CAAE(Br)67881517.1.0000.5511. All participants had full understanding and signed informed consent document.

This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.