Introduction and Aim. Substance abuse imposes hazards on human health in all biopsychosocial aspects. Limited studies exist on epidemiology of substance abuse and its trend in rural areas. The present study aimed to compare substance abuse in one of the rural areas of southeast Iran, in a 12-year period (2000 and 2012). Design and Methods. In a household survey conducted in 2012, in Dashtkhak/Kerman, 1200 individuals above 12 years of age completed a questionnaire to determine their frequency of substance abuse. The questionnaire included the following three areas: demographic characteristics, frequency of substance abuse and ease of access to various drugs. Results. Among 900 completed questionnaires, majority of the participants (61.8%) were below 30 years of age and among them 54.4% were male. Cigarette (17.0%), opium (15.7%) and opium residue (9.0%) were the most frequent substances abused on a daily basis. Based on the participant’s opinion, we conclude that the ease of access to cigarette, waterpipe and opium contributed to their increase in consumption compared with earlier years. Discussion and Conclusion. The steady rise in substance abuse in rural communities demands immediate attention and emergency preventive measures from policy makers. 1. Introduction Substance abuse poses a major political, social and health challenge worldwide [1]. Besides being a personal risk, addiction is a social problem and imposes harmful and permanent effects on society. At present, 3.6%–6.9% of adults (15–64-years-old individuals) are under the influence of illicit substances [2]. According to the World Drug Report 2013, since 2008, the number of illicit drug users has shown 18% increase; rise in population and ease of availability appears to be the two common reasons [2]. Substance abuse in Iran, one of the Middle East countries, has a historical origin. During World War I, among 250,000 individuals of the Tehran municipality, 25,000 were reported to be addicted to opium [3]. In recent centuries, opium has been prescribed for pain relief in Iran by traditional physicians. These traditions are stronger among rural populations owing to a lack of access to trained physicians. The usage of opium had been so common in rural areas that mothers often exposed babies to opium in an effort to calm them and sleep better [3]. The past two centuries have seen several changes with respect to handling illicit substances in Iran, from open access to death penalty for carrying illicit drugs. At present, Iran policy against illicit drugs is considered to be a combination of war
References
[1]
M. Singer, “Drugs and development: the global impact of drug use and trafficking on social and economic development,” International Journal of Drug Policy, vol. 19, no. 6, pp. 467–478, 2008.
[2]
UNODC, World Drug Report 2013, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Austria, 2013.
[3]
A. A. Afkhami, “From punishment to harm reduction: resecularization of addiction in contemporary Iran,” in Contemporary Iran: Economy, Society, Politics, A. Gheissari, Ed., pp. 194–210, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, USA, 2009.
[4]
UNODC, World Drug Report 2010, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Austria, 2010.
[5]
N. Nakhaee, K. Divsalar, M. S. Meimandi, and S. Dabiri, “Estimating the prevalence of opiates use by unlinked anonymous urine drug testing: a pilot study in Iran,” Substance Use and Misuse, vol. 43, no. 3-4, pp. 513–520, 2008.
[6]
A. Mokri, “Brief overview of the status of drug abuse in Iran,” Archives of Iranian Medicine, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 184–190, 2002.
[7]
A. Meysamie, M. Sedaghat, M. Mahmoodi, S. M. Ghodsi, and B. Eftekhar, “Opium use in a rural area of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 425–431, 2009.
[8]
UNFPA, “UNFPA Iran: Country Profile,” 2012, http://iran.unfpa.org/Country%20Profile.asp.
[9]
World Health Organization, Guide to Drug Abuse Epidemiology, WHO/MSD/MSB/00.3, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 2000.
[10]
H. Ziaaddini, A. Sharifi, and N. Nakhaee, “The prevalence of at least one-time substance abuse among Kerman pre-university male students,” Addiction & Health, vol. 3-4, pp. 103–110, 2010.
[11]
H. Ziaaddini and R. Ziaaddini, “The household survey of drug abuse in Kerman, Iran,” Journal of Applied Science, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 380–382, 2005.
[12]
A. Mirahmadizadeh and N. Nakhaee, “Prevalence of waterpipe smoking among rural pregnant women in Southern Iran,” Medical Principles and Practice, vol. 17, no. 6, pp. 435–439, 2008.
[13]
Z. A. Mehrjerdi, “Crystal in Iran: methamphetamine or heroin kerack,” Daru, vol. 21, no. 1, p. 22, 2013.
[14]
M. Hickman, C. Taylor, A. Chatterjee et al., “Estimating the prevalence of problematic drug use: a review of methods and their application,” Bulletin on Narcotics, vol. 54, no. 1-2, pp. 15–32, 2002.
[15]
S. M. Morton, D. K. Bandara, E. M. Robinson, and P. E. Carr, “In the 21st century, what is an acceptable response rate?” Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 106–108, 2012.
[16]
F. Raisdana and A. G. Nakhjavani, “The drug market in Iran,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 582, pp. 149–166, 2002.
[17]
S. Shariatirad, M. Maarefvand, and H. Ekhtiari, “Emergence of a methamphetamine crisis in Iran,” Drug and Alcohol Review, vol. 32, pp. 223–224, 2012.
[18]
J. C. Gfroerer, S. L. Larson, and J. D. Colliver, “Drug use patterns and trends in rural communities,” Journal of Rural Health, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 10–15, 2007.
[19]
K. Coomber, J. W. Toumbourou, P. Miller, P. K. Staiger, S. A. Hemphill, and R. F. Catalano, “Rural adolescent alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use: a comparison of students in Victoria, Australia, and Washington State, United States,” Journal of Rural Health, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 409–415, 2011.
[20]
N. Sarraf-Zadegan, M. Boshtam, S. Shahrokhi et al., “Tobacco use among Iranian men, women and adolescents,” European Journal of Public Health, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 76–78, 2004.
[21]
A.-R. Sabahy, K. Divsalar, S. Bahreinifar, M. Marzban, and N. Nakhaee, “Waterpipe tobacco use among Iranian university students: correlates and perceived reasons for use,” International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 844–847, 2011.
