THE USE OF LICIT AND/OR ILLICIT DRUGS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF THE HEALTH AREA AT THE CITY OF BOTUCATU, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL

Abstract

The use of licit and/or illicit drugs and its repercussions on public health are calling the attention of health authorities and international organizations in the last decades. Considering the importance of these kinds of studies, we interviewed 314 nursing and medicine undergraduate students aiming at evaluating: the type of drug they use, frequence of use, cause, the age they began to use drugs, prevalence by sex and its relation with their enrolment in University. The rate of tobaccoism is of 12% and the greater incidence is on women. The use of alcoholic drinks is a concern as 71% of the subjects refer to different frequences of use. Among the most used illicit drugs are marijuana and chloroform. With respect to the causes, subjects mentioned curiosity followed by companionship and, convinced by someone. We also found that the university environment does not play an important role to influence students to use drugs (60% of them used drugs before their enrolment in University). It is important to emphasize that in Brazil, sophisticated advertisements stimulate the use of alcholic drinks and tobáceo. Considering this situation, we believe in the importance of educational programmes to show the consequences of the use of these drugs. Therefore, we focussed the participation of health professionals, mainly of the basic level. In order to solve these problems we need to involve people that are committed and do not have political and/or economic interests.