Abstract

CENTURION-VIVEROS, Claudia Carolina  and  RODRIGUEZ-RIVEROS, María Isabel. Knowledge and consumption of illegal drugs in students of a public school. Mem. Inst. Investig. Cienc. Salud [online]. 2017, vol.15, n.2, pp.14-20. ISSN 1812-9528.  https://doi.org/10.18004/mem.iics/1812-9528/2017.015(02)14-020.

Drugs affect and modify multiple organs, especially the brain, with more severe consequences among young people. The association between knowledge and consumption of illegal drugs in students was determined. The study design was observational, descriptive with an analytical component. The population consisted of 222 students of the Scientific and Technical High School from the first to the third year of a public school who were selected by a non-probabilistic convenience sampling. A printed questionnaire with 27 questions covering three aspects: sociodemographic data, knowledge and consumption was applied, and self-administered anonymously. It was concluded that more than half of the students had knowledge about illegal drugs and most did not consume illegal drugs. In the minority that consumed drugs the most frequent was marijuana, and the starting age was 15 years, with a frequency of consumption of once a week in the company of friends and at the house of a friend or family member. A significant association was identified between knowledge and use of illegal drugs. It is suggested that preventive education programs focus on students aged 14 to 15 years emphasizing on drugs according to dependency level and negative effects of marijuana.

Keywords : Drug addiction; Drug abuse; Drug dependence..

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