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Etiadpajoh v12n50p175 en
Etiadpajoh v12n50p175 en
Introduction
Addiction is now recognized as a global dilemma, with which all countries are
faced (Razali & Madon, 2016). The phenomenon of drug use and its dependence
are among the critical problems of the world. Addiction has occupied experts'
mind after the nuclear crisis, the population explosion, and environmental
pollution (Kendler, Ohlsson, Edwards, Sundquist, & Sundquist, 2017). Drug use
and alcohol drinking, as known social trauma, impose a lot of damage on the
society. Drug use is a chronic and relapsive disorder whose onset and continuity
are affected by the interaction of genetic, psychological, social, and
environmental factors (Riley, Hempel, & Clasen, 2018). The development and
growth of narcotics has increased dramatically in recent years in such a way that
the number of narcotic drugs from 260 in 2012 has reached 483 ones in 2015
(Bluth, & Pincus, 2016). In recent years, university students' tendency towards
smoking, alcohol drinking, and drug use has increased (Mardani, Sheikhifini, &
Kavousian, 2012). Drug use and alcohol consumption in students are of
importance because of their dependence on drugs in adulthood, and the freshers
are more likely to experience alcohol use (Mbuthia, Wanzala, Ngugi, &
Nyamogoba, 2017).
Currently, the use of traditional drugs, such as opium, hashish, and heroin to
industrial substances has shifted to the use of chemical substances, such as
psychoactive pills, and the use of these types of drugs is a serious threat to
children, adolescents, and young people (Roy, & Goswami, 2016). Over the past
decade, the rate of industrial drug use has risen from 3% to 25%, and women's
tendency to use these substances has doubled. This suggests that the world is
being faced with the huge challenge and crisis of addiction. The statistics of
addicts in Iran are higher than the global average and Iran is geographically the
gateway of narcotics to the world (McHugh, Nielsen, & Weiss, 2015). The
prevalence of addiction among the 15-to-64-year-old population equals 39.5%,
it is 2.1% among high school students, and it is about 5.6% among state
university students. In the working community and industrial environments, the
prevalence of drug use is 22.3% where marijuana is the most commonly used
drug with the rate of 53.2%, marijuana derivatives, including hashish and grass
constitute 11.9% of the drugs, and crystal, heroin, and crack constitute 8.1%,
7.1%, and 3.5%, respectively (Fakhouri, 2018). Among young drug users in the
UK, 35% are addicted smokers and 82% are alcoholics. In this country, it has
been reported that 52% had experienced drug use in the last year and 31% have
reported drug use in the last month (Takano, Kawakami, Miyamoto, &
Matsumoto, 2015). Among students from South African universities, the
prevalence rates of smoking, alcoholic drinking, hashish use, and other drugs are
equal to 13.2%, 11%, 6%, and 10%, respectively (Jia, Jin, Zhang, Wang, & Lu,
2018). In American university students, the prevalence of smoking is 11%, that
of marijuana use is 8.5%, and that of alcoholic drinking equals 35%, and about
Masomeh Hamidian-Rard & Ali Zeinali 129
10 percent of them use at least one hallucinogenic substance. In this regard, 62%
hallucinogenic users were male, mostly single, in the age range of 26 to 34 years
(Nanavati, & Herlitz, 2017).
The prevalence of drug use has been reported to be 16.3% in art students,
8.85% in humanities students, 6% in technology and engineering students, and
5% in medical students (Kordmirza, Azad, & Eskandari, 2003). The prevalence
rates of cigarette smoking, tobacco use, alcohol drinking, hashish, opium,
ecstasy, heroin and crack, and crystal have been reported equal to 21.44%,
36.89%, 12.51%, 1.32%, 2.29%, 0.44%, 0.08%, and 0.26%, respectively. In
addition, the sensitive age for cigarette smoking in boys and girls is younger than
15 years of age and older than 18 years of age. The age of the first experience of
smoking, tobacco use, and alcohol drinking relates more to the years before
entering university. University students experience more smoking and drinking
in social conditions than in their solitude. Smoking and alcohol drinking in non-
local and dormitory students are more than those in local and non-dormitory
students. Smoking, alcohol drinking, and tobacco use in engineering students are
more prevalent than in basic science and agricultural students (Gorji, & Bakrani,
2006). Dehghani, Zare, Dehghani, Sedghi, & Pourmovahed (2010) investigated
the prevalence and factors associated with substance abuse in the students and
concluded that 21.5% of them had a history of substance abuse. The prevalence
of addictive drugs was respectively as follows: 15.9% tobacco use, 14.4%
smoking, 2.8% opium, 2.8% alcohol drinking, 1.2% psychoactive pills, 1.1%
hashish, and 0.8% heroin. The main motive for drug use in most cases was
reported to be fun and recreation (47.4%) and another important factor was
unemployment (42.98%). Also, the prevalence of drug use was higher in single
men, non-local, and dormitory residents. Taromian, Bolhari, Pairavi, & Asgari
(2013) surveyed the prevalence of drug use among students of medical
universities of Tehran and reported that tobacco use was ranked first among the
various types of drugs and it was followed by smoking and alcoholic drinking.
The consumption of crystal, crack, and heroin also took up the lowest levels of
consumption. Drugs, such as morphine, Ritalin, and tramadol were ranked fourth
to sixth among the medical students, respectively. In all types of substances, the
dose of drug use in boys was more than that in girls. Ahmadi, Soltani, &
Behboodi (2014) stated that the percentages of students who had experienced
smoking, tobacco use, alcohol drinking, and opium at least once during life were
28.1, 46.8, 11.6, and 5.6, respectively, and the rates of consumption in them were
11%, 36.6%, 6.8%, and 3.2% in the last 12 months. In addition, the age of taking
the majority of drugs was between 10 and 16 years old and the prevalence of
drug use among boys was more than that of female students. Ansari, Ansari
Moghaddam, & Mohammadi (2016) investigated the prevalence of substance
abuse and its related factors in tobacco smokers and concluded that 53% of
tobacco users smoked it in groups. The ages of the first tobacco experience in
boys and girls were 17.1 and 21.2 years, respectively. The prevalence of general
130 Research on Addiction Quarterly Journal of Drug Abuse
drug use was 70.4%. The use of tobacco in groups was 2.03%, was 2.27% for
those living in a single house, and was 3.7% in university students. Moreover,
boys smoked tobacco 3 times as much as other substances.
Nowadays, the identification of the factors related to substance dependency
and planning on the control of addiction and reduction of the number of addicts
and increased awareness of these patients are among the priorities of each
country. Considering the significant growth in the number and variety of drugs
over the past years, the availability of new and up-to-date information on the
epidemiology of addictive disorder can help to plan targeted and effective
strategies to reduce this global disaster. In addition, few studies have focused on
the prevalence of drug use and alcohol consumption among university students.
By studying the prevalence of drug use, it is possible to become aware of its
possible causes and design the programs that can maintain and improve the
health of students and the health of the community. Therefore, the present study
was conducted to investigate the prevalence of drug use and alcohol drinking in
students of Urmia University.
Method
Population, Sample, and Sampling Method
The present study was a descriptive cross-sectional one. A total of 37,500
students of Azad (13,000 students), State (16,000 students), and Payame Noor
universities (8,500 students) in the city of Urmia constituted the statistical
population of this study in the academic year of 2017-18. To determine the
sample size, the Cochran formula was used, based on which the sample size was
estimated to be 380 people. In this research, 450 sample units were selected by
cluster random sampling method since it was attempted to ensure an adequate
final sample size due to possible losses of participants over time. In this method,
firstly, a number of faculties were selected randomly from the Azad, State, and
Payame Noor universities via simple random method. Then, a number of
disciplines in different levels of education were selected from each faculty via
simple random sampling method. However, only some disciplines were
randomly selected from Payame Noor University because of the lack of any
faculties. Given the varying number of disciplines in different universities, the
disciplines were generally combined and divided into four groups, including
humanities and physical education, basic sciences, agricultural and paramedics,
engineering, and art and urban planning. Prior to the data collection, the
participants were assured about observing the principles of confidentiality of
personal information and group analysis.
Instrument
The Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST):
This test was developed by the World Health Organization (1998) and contains
eight phases, each of which consists of a number of columns. The substance that
Masomeh Hamidian-Rard & Ali Zeinali 131
Variable
No
Category Consumption Percentage Percentage χ2 Sig.
consumption
Different age groups were not different from each other in terms of smoking,
alcohol drinking, and drug use (P> 0.05). In order to investigate the prevalence
of smoking, alcohol drinking, and drug use among students in Urmia
Universities, Chi-square test was run and its results are presented in Table 5.
134 Research on Addiction Quarterly Journal of Drug Abuse
As it has been shown in table 6, married and single students were not different
from each other in terms of smoking, alcohol drinking, and drug use (P> 0.05).
In order to investigate the prevalence of smoking, alcohol drinking, and drug use
among students of Urmia universities based on academic faculties, Chi-square
test was used and its results are presented in Table 7.
Masomeh Hamidian-Rard & Ali Zeinali 135
No consumption
Consumption
Percentage
Percentage
Substance
Variable
Category χ2 Sig.
Basic Sciences,
Agricultural, and 7 10.45 60 89.55
Paramedics
Art and Urban Planning 17 29.31 41 70.69
Humanities and Physical
22 12.36 156 87.64
Education
Engineering 25 18.80 108 81.20 24.36 0.001
Drugs
Basic Sciences,
Agricultural, and 5 7.46 62 92.54
Paramedics
Art and Urban Planning 21 36.21 37 63.79
crystal. In another study, Taromian et al. (2013) concluded that tobacco use was
ranked first among the various types of drugs and it was followed by cigarette
smoking and alcoholic drinking. To interpret these findings based on the study
carried out by Mohammadkhani, & Rezayi Jamalouyi (2016), it can be argued
that many people turn to cigarette smoking and tobacco use to cope with stress
and negative emotions and use tobacco and cigarette as an instrument to alleviate
their negative emotions, such as anxiety. In addition, cigarette and tobacco
smokers cannot tolerate unpleasant conditions in stressful situations, and their
sensitivity to psychological and emotional distress leads to cigarette smoking
and tobacco use for the regulation of their cognitive experiences. Other
explanations for this forbidding are related to the easy access to drugs,
affordability of drugs, and social incentives for drug use among young people
and students. In fact, they have to accept the conditions of the group in order to
have social relationships and effective communication with peers and to be
accepted in the community. In many cases, the use of legal substances, such as
cigarettes is the condition of acceptance in the groups. The important thing is
that cigarette smoking is an input for the use of other illegal substances.
Another finding of this study showed that the prevalence of smoking and
alcohol drinking among male students was more than that in female students of
Urmia universities. However, the prevalence of drug use between them did not
differ. Consistent with this finding, Nanavati, & Herlitz (2017) reported that 62%
of the hallucinogens users were males and 38% were females. Dehghani et al.
(2010) stated that the prevalence of drug use in men was higher than that of
women. In another study, Taromian et al. (2013) reported that the consumption
of all types of drugs in boys was higher than that in girls. Similarly, Ahmadi et
al. reported that the prevalence of drug use among male students was more than
that in female students. Ansari et al. (2016) also concluded that boys have a
chance three times more than girls to tend to different substances. According to
Fajani, Janghorbani, & Khosravi (2015), the higher prevalence of drugs in males
may be due to the greater freedom of men in the family and community, their
dare and easier access to the mentioned drugs, and their higher psychological
pressures. The lower prevalence of drug use in women may be due to families'
precise control of women's communication and behavioral patterns and specific
cultural perceptions of acceptable social behaviors for women in Iran. Another
possible reason for the high the prevalence of smoking and alcohol consumption
in boys is that the society confirms the use of these substances by men than by
women and the use of these substances by women is viewed to be more immoral
than that in men. As a result, men turn to cigarette and alcohol consumption with
less fear of verbal and non-verbal punishment than women. To explain this
finding regarding the non-significant difference in substance use (other than
cigarettes and alcohol) between men and women, it can be argued that women's
social networks have become diverse due to the growth of technology and their
drug use tendency has increased. Unmet expectations, accumulated anger, and
Masomeh Hamidian-Rard & Ali Zeinali 137
worry about future, which are relatively big problems, put women, like men, at
risk. It can be argued that men and women act differently in coping with
challenges. Men tend to smoke and alcohol in the face of stress and partial
tensions, and women are less likely to use these substances. However, both of
them act similarly in the face of general stresses and tensions and both turn to
other substances (other than cigarettes and alcohol). As a result, there is a
difference between men and women in terms of smoking and alcohol drinking
while there is not such a difference in terms of drug use. However, both of them
act similarly in the face of general stresses and tensions and both turn to other
substances (other than cigarettes and alcohol). As a result, there is a difference
between men and women in terms of smoking and alcohol drinking while there
is not such a difference in terms of drug use.
Other findings of this study showed that the prevalence of smoking, alcohol
drinking, and drug use among students in Urmia universities did not differ from
each other based on age. In other words, the prevalence of smoking, alcohol
drinking, and drug use existed in the students within the age range of 18 to 21
years to the same extent as in other age ranges, i.e. 30 to 300 years old and above
33 years old. A possible explanation for these results is that the likelihood of
consumption at an early age increases the likelihood of continued consumption
and converting it into abuse and dependence. Therefore, there is no difference
between the percentage of smokers, alcohol drinkers, and drug users based on
age. This requires special attention and sensitivity in order to prevent and reduce
drug use by teaching in lower levels and screening from the first and second
grades of high school and before entering the university. One of the strengths of
any drug prevention program is to prevent drug use and stop those taking drugs
for the first time.
Moreover, the results of this study showed that the prevalence of smoking,
alcohol drinking, and drug use is not different among different faculties of Urmia
universities. This finding is consistent with those of the studies conducted by
Ahmadi et al. (2014) where it was revealed that the vast majority of university
students taking drugs have reported the start of drug use in the first or second
periods of high school or elementary school period. The increase in the number
of substance abuse and the decline in the age of consumption has put the society
in a crisis, 15-16-year-old students contain the largest number of industrial drug
users, and about 1.2% of second period high school students take drugs (Zeinali,
Vahdat & Hamednia, 2007). To account for the similarity of the prevalence of
smoking, alcohol drinking, and drug use in different academic programs, one
may refer to the reduced age of drug use and its persistence in the subjects. Most
of the students are likely to experience drug use before entering the university
and during the school year. Based on this finding, attempts should be made to
control drug use before converting to substance abuse, and this should begin
from schools.
138 Research on Addiction Quarterly Journal of Drug Abuse
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