China 
Africa 
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Plant-Derived Compounds as New Therapeutics for Substance Use Disorders
Published in Namrita Lall, Medicinal Plants for Cosmetics, Health and Diseases, 2022
Kevin S. Murnane, Mary Frances Vest
Abused drugs can be broadly categorized into classes of compounds that share chemical properties or pharmacological actions, such as stimulants, cannabinoids, sedatives, opioids, nicotine and alcohol. SUDs are a growing problem in the United States (U.S.) and across the world. Stimulant abuse is an important public health concern, with millions of Americans regularly using classic stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine for non-medical purposes. Acute overdoses are a particularly hazardous aspect of stimulant abuse, which can lead to hospitalization and death (Devlin and Henry, 2008). It has been documented that approximately one in three drug-related emergency room episodes involves cocaine abuse (Gaval-Cruz et al., 2008; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA, 2010). Epidemiological studies demonstrate that amphetamine-type stimulants are the most widely used illicit drugs worldwide after cannabis, with up to 51 million global users between the ages of 15 and 64 (McKetin et al., 2013; Wearne and Cornish, 2018). In this regard, there is a current resurgence in methamphetamine use due to inexpensive, high-quality products flooding the market (Ben-Yehuda and Siecke, 2018).
Drugs and health
Published in Sally Robinson, Priorities for Health Promotion and Public Health, 2021
For decades, the only type of synthetic recreational drugs were amphetamine-type stimulants such as ecstasy. Peacock (2019) explains how, in the early to mid-2000s, many diverse synthetic psychoactive substances emerged and rapidly proliferated across the world, often using on-line trade and outwitting existing legal and scientific controls. These new psychoactive substances may be sold to unwary customers under the name of a traditional drug such as LSD or ecstasy. Although they are often used as part of illicit drug use, they are also used within medicines, adulterated medicines and counterfeit medicines.
Clinical Aspects Related to Methylphenidate-Based NPS
Published in Ornella Corazza, Andres Roman-Urrestarazu, Handbook of Novel Psychoactive Substances, 2018
Dino Lüthi, Matthias E. Liechti
The treatment of MPH intoxication is similar to that for amphetamine-type stimulants and primarily supportive. Methylphenidate-based NPSs are currently not widely studied, and the treatment that is proposed for MPH intoxication (Bruggisser et al., 2012) may also be applied for MPH-based NPSs. Patients should primarily be treated based on their clinical presentation, and symptoms of sympathomimetic toxicity should be assessed and treated. Patients with mild toxicity should be observed and may be released after they are without symptoms for a few hours. Patients with severe sympathomimetic symptoms, such as hallucinations, severe hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, hyperthermia, dyskinesia, or thoracic pain, should be monitored in an emergency unit. For cases with significant sympathomimetic toxicity or thoracic pain, an electrocardiogram and possibly an examination of cardiac troponins are recommended. Physicians should carefully assess whether the symptoms are caused by polydrug intoxication, possibly with other stimulants. Benzodiazepines may be given to control agitation, hypertension, or convulsions. Treatment is supportive, and there are no specific treatments or antidotes.
Prevalence of psychoactive substance use among male adolescents in Southwest Nigeria
Published in Journal of Substance Use, 2019
Haleem Abdurahman, Olurotimi Adejumo, Jibril Abdulmalik
In this study, 7.4% admitted to using inhalants in the form of petrol and glue. Inhalant use was commoner in the northern study (21.1%) (Abdulmalik et al., 2009) than studies conducted in the south (Oshodi et al., 2010), while some studies reported zero prevalence for inhalant use (F. Fatoye & Morakinyo, 2002). It may be due to the availability of other substances like alcohol which are safer and more socially acceptable in the south compared to the North were religious restrictions play a major role alcohol’s availability and acceptability. The proportions that used cocaine and hallucinogens among the respondents were very low and similarly low findings have been reported in other studies among adolescents. This is generally due to the expensive nature and illicit status of this substances and the lack of accessibility to them. In addition, the least-used psychoactive substance in this study was the amphetamine-type stimulants with none of the respondents indicating its use. This group of substances is not popularly known among young people in the southwest of Nigeria.
Evaluation of substance use in Izmir during the COVID-19 pandemic
Published in Journal of Substance Use, 2022
Melike Aydoğdu, Rukiye Aslan, Özge Can, Yusuf Ali Altunci, Serap Annette Akgür
Meanwhile, ATS positivity (60%) took first place in the pandemic period, increasing more than other years. Similar to the current study, the data from the studies conducted in wastewater in Finland and Norway on profiling substance use reported that amphetamine use grew in the first months of 2020 (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2020). Our study’s findings verify that the substance use profile changes during periods such as a pandemic during which various restrictions are imposed. To cope with pandemic and social isolation problems, users tend to use recreational substances such as amphetamine-type stimulants. During the pandemic, the disruption of the treatment of people with opioid addiction may lead to a decrease in the use of drugs such as methadone, buprenorphine, and naloxone and a decrease in access to critical social services (Alexander et al., 2020). Supporting this, we observed that while no opiate positive results were found during the pandemic period, there was a significant decrease in buprenorphine positivity (5%) compared to previous years. Social isolation causes a halt in the street trade of commonly known illegal substances. This is likely to encourage users to use prescription drugs such as benzodiazepines (Satre et al., 2020; Schifano et al., 2019). Likewise, in contrast to the decrease in the overall number of cases, the rate of cases in which benzodiazepine was detected was similar to previous years’ data. Therefore, it can be claimed that the rate of benzodiazepine use was not affected by the pandemic. The increase in the detection of multiple substances (35%) during the pandemic period is also an issue that should be considered carefully.
Social determinants associated with risky sexual behaviors among men who inject drugs in Kermanshah, Western Iran
Published in Journal of Substance Use, 2018
Mehdi Noroozi, Sina Ahmadi, Bahram Armoon, Zahra Jorjoran Shushtari, Asaad Sharhani, Elahe Ahounbar, Salah eddin Karimi, Azam Rahmani, Yaser Mokhayeri, Mostafa Qorbani, Mohammad Hassan Farhadi, Katherine Waye, Neda Alibeigi, Mohammad Rafi Bazrafshan
Our analysis found a correlation between methamphetamine use and risky sexual behaviors. This finding is consistent with other studies on amphetamine-type stimulants that reported increased odds of involvement in high-risk behaviors, particularly risky sexual behaviors (Molitor et al., 1999; Sharifi et al., 2016). Together, the present findings confirm that methamphetamine use is a major public health problem in Iran and thus merits further research on the prevalence and geographical distribution due to its strong association with HIV transmission (Mehrjerdi & Noroozi, 2013).