Abstract
Objectives: To examine drug use prevalence and to explore the associations of cluster environment characteristics with drug use among agriculture-related workers in Thailand. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 2936 agriculture-related workers from 10 clusters in 4 regions throughout Thailand. Trained interviewers conducted semi-structured interviews. Additionally, the drug-use patterns and behaviors of 124 current users were structurally observed. A multilevel binary logistic regression model was used to estimate the effects of the cluster environment on drug use. Results: The annual prevalence was 58.73%. Illicit drugs, non-prescription drugs, or over the counter medicines were widely used. Age, sex, and non-prescription behavior were associated with substance use that was statistically significant. Contextual clustering was found to significantly affect drug use among agriculture-related workers. A 1-unit increase in treatment rate predicted 12.7-times higher illicit drug use and 15.3-times higher methamphetamine use. Conclusions: Agricultural work facilitated the spread of drug use The design of the surveillance system should be considered.
Highlights
Illicit drug (ID) use has been widely recognized as a challenge to both individual health and society
Drug use in Thailand has been lower than the global average, the problem has been a part of the national agenda since 20015
All information gathered during this study is available as Underlying data[32]
Summary
Illicit drug (ID) use has been widely recognized as a challenge to both individual health and society. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 5.6% of adults (15–64 years) across the globe used IDs at least once in 2016 and >10% of those drug users have suffered from drug-use disorders[1]. In the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the rate of drug users in 2016 who accessed treatment systems was 27.8 per 100,000 people. Over 80% of treated people were methamphetamine users[2]. A 2016 household survey in Thailand revealed that 1.4 million Thai people aged between 12–65 years used drugs, 2.8% of the adult Thai population. The results from the last Thai national survey showed that cannabis, kratom (Mitragyna speciosa Korth), and methamphetamine were the three most commonly used drugs among ID users[3]. Government statistics reported that only 13% of these drug users were estimated to access all treatment systems in 20164. Drug use in Thailand has been lower than the global average, the problem has been a part of the national agenda since 20015
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