[Personality dependence in drug dependence]

Is drug dependence more likely to establish itself in persons whose personality structure is already characterized by a psychological dependence which can be looked at from two aspects: cognitive field dependence and emotional dependence? Three groups of 21 subjects each, multiple drug users, users of cannabis and non-users, are studied with the expectation that the first group is more psychologically dependent than the second one, the latter being in turn more dependent than the group of non-users. The situation is not so simple. Hard-drug users appear to be more active than users of cannabis, whereas non-users are even more dynamic individuals. However, in such a study the duration of consumption exercise an important influence because, in this regard, different personality profiles of the two drug-using groups come into play, the users of cannabis presenting a more incoherent picture. The multiple drug addict selected from his natural environment seems to acquire, through his prolonged consumption, a greater perceptual independence and emotional maturity owing to the clandestine nature of his habit, and a more acute and articulate general way of functioning in order to avoid mishaps.

Drugs on a medical campus I. Drug use among medical undergraduates

All 750 undergraduate students of the Medical College, Patiala, during the academic year 1976--1977 were covered in this survey. Seven out of ten students were found to have used some drug in the past. The lifetime prevalence being 82.4% among boys and 29.6% among girls. A majority of the students (78.6%) were poly-drug users, the commonest drugs used being alcohol (58%), tranquillizers (47%), and tobacco (36%). However, the prevalence of daily use was low, it being highest for cigarette smoking, by 9.4% of students, while less than 2% reported daily use of alcohol. The only other drugs used on a daily basis were stimulants (0.9%), tranquillizers (0.6%), and sedatives (0.3%). Of the opium users 81.8%, and over 60% of alcohol and tobacco users, had started taking these drugs during high school or the pre-medical year. On the other hand a majority of the students using tranquillizers (75%) and stimulants (66%) began using these drugs after entering the Medical College. The percentage of drug users increases by approximately 10% during each year of their medical studies.

Blindness due to illicit use of topical cocaine

A drug abuser developed simultaneous bilateral corneal ulcerations after the use of topical cocaine. One eye was enucleated because of secondary angle-closure glaucoma and the other developed a dense central corneal scar.

Drug abuse among alcoholic women

Of 293 women in an alcoholic treatment center, two-thirds have received prescriptions for drugs of potential abuse, usually hypnotic and antianxiety drugs. One-third of the women admitted abusing substances; 80% of these subjects got prescriptions for potential drugs of abuse while actively abusing. These figures are alarming in light of the lack of evidence that antianxiety drugs, hypnotics, and stimulants are effective in treating alcoholics and drug abusers. Drug-misusing women in this sample reported more suicide attempts and early antisocial problems and had received more psychiatric care than nonabusers. The authors urge that hypnotics, antianxiety drugs, and stimulants almost never be prescribed to outpatient alcoholics and that analgesics be prescribed only with great care.

Urine screening of arrestees as a source of drug abuse indicator data

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) recently sponsored a study which examined the utility of jail urine screening programs as a source of drug abuse indicator data. During the study, short-term urine screening programs were set up in the central jail facilities of four urban counties. To determine whether jail urine screening programs have the capacity to detect patterns of drug use not readily detectable through existing indicators, the urinalysis findings for each county were compared with data generated by the DAWN and CODAP systems. The results of the study suggest that jail urine screening programs can be useful as a supplement to existing sources of information on drug use patterns in local communities.

Illicit drug use among urban adolescents. A decade in retrospect

Over the past decade (1967 to 1977), 76,000 adolescents were screened for a history and somatic signs of illicit drug use at a detention center for juveniles and at an adolescent inpatient unit of a university-affiliated hospital. Dramatic changes in the patterns of drug abuse are reported. Opiate use was prominent in the first half of the decade with a peak in 1970 to 1971 and marijuana use more prominent in the last five years. Inhalant abuse as represented by glue and halogenated cleaning fluids was documented only early in the decade, while the existence of stimulant and depressant abuse follows still other patterns over the decade. Hospital admissions for serious somatic complications of illicit drug use, namely, overdose, drug-related death, hepatic coma, detoxification, and viral hepatitis, were correlated only with trends in the use of opiates. Awareness of drug abuse patterns among adolescents is important for the health professional so that complications can be diagnosed and treated and educational efforts properly directed.

Frequency of use of diazepam in individuals on probation and in methadone maintenance programs

During the spring of 1977 a survey was taken of drug analysis results for over 17,500 urine samples from Los Angeles County probationers and over 8,500 urine samples from Los Angeles County methadone clinic enrollees to determine the frequency of diazepam (Valium) use. The probation department specimens were found to contain diazepan less frequently than the methadone clinic specimens as a group. There were, however, wide variations in use frequency between the seven methadone clinics.

Contacts with a Canadian "street level" drug and crisis centre, 1972-76

The Calgary Distress Centre/Drug Centre is a "street level" agency that deals with both drug and non-drug related crises. Telephone and drop-in service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Centre has approximately 60 non-professional volunteers and a paid staff of six. Data about crisis information and counselling contacts over the period 1972-76 are presented and discussed. The Distress Centre/Drug Centre is perhaps a useful model on which to base other crisis intervention facilities. Furthermore, the systematic compilation of data regarding contacts with the agency provides significant insight regarding trends in drug use and evolution of the agency.

Weakly basic impurities in illicit amphetamine

In this paper the isolation and identification of two pyrimidines, five pyridines, and one pyridone as impurities in illicit amphetamines prepared by the Leuckart synthesis are reported. Isolation was achieved by repeated thin-layer chromatography with various solvent mixtures, while identification was done by both high and low resolution mass spectrometry and 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy. Some chromatographic data are reported and a quantitative analysis of a reaction mixture and an illicit amphetamine is given.

Popping and snorting volatile nitrites: a current fad for getting high

In certain social circles a variety of volatile nitrites are being used extensively to expand creativity, stimulate music appreciation, promote a sense of abandon in dancing, and intensify sexual experience. Soon after amyl nitrite (the prototype of this group) became a prescription drug, legally produced substitutes appeared and were sold as room odorizers. Analyses of eight of these substitutes showed them to contain isomers of butyl or amyl alcohol and a corresponding nitrite. The authors describe the context of use of these products and their desired and adverse effects.