Abstract
The aim of this work is to know which is the pattern of consumption of psychoactive substances, that include psychopharmaceuticals and drugs of abuse, among university students from the University Complutense of Madrid (UCM) in Spain. An anonymous self-completed Google forms survey with demographic information and data on the use of psychoactive drugs and drugs of abuse was sent by institutional mail. The survey was answered by a total of 6,802 students, mainly women, aged between 18 and 75 years. The students belonged mainly to Bachelor’s degree (79%) followed by a Master’s degree (13.6%) and, finally, a Doctorate (7.4%) of a total of 26 faculties of the UCM. The study reveals that among the psychoactive drugs most frequently used by the respondents were valerian (33.4%), melatonin (20.2%), lorazepam (14%), diazepam (15.4%) and bromazepam (9.1%), being the use of these psychoactive drugs mainly sporadic in the last six months. The percentage of students who consumed psychotropic drugs such as diazepam, bromazepam, alprazolam and lorazepam without a prescription stands out worryingly. Regarding drug use, cannabis (43.6%) was the most preferable intake drug followed by ecstasy/MDMA (10.8%), cocaine (6.5%), amphetamines/speed (6.5%) and magic mushrooms (6.5%) and volatile inhalants (5.9%), with mainly sporadic use in the last 6 months. From the results gathered in this study, university policies should be implemented highlighting the rational use of medicines, based on the exacerbated consumption of benzodiazepines without a prescription. The authors are thankful for the financial support from the Student Observatory – UCM (project 25).
Presenters
Elena González BurgosAssociate Professor, Pharmacology, Pharmacognosy and Botany, University Complutense of Madrid, Madrid, Spain Teresa Pérez
Senior Lecture, Statistics and Data Science, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain Isabel Ureña Vacas
PhD student, Pharmacology, Pharmacognosy and Botany, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain Dolores Serrano Lopez
Yolanda Cabellos
Maria Carmen Pardo
Professor, Statistics and Operation Research, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain Melina Peressini álvarez
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
2022 Special Focus—Government and Society Collaborations: Responding to Pandemics
KEYWORDS
UNIVERSITY, PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES, STUDENTS, PATTERNS
