Patterns of drug abuse in Upper Egypt: cause or result of violence?

Heba A Yassa,Shahir T Badea

doi:10.1186/s41935-019-0117-7

Abstract

BackgroundDrug abuse and violence both are dangerous phenomena in all countries. The relation between drug abuse and violence is obscure, and what comes first is the question. This study clarifies the changes in drug abuse patterns in Upper Egypt and the association between drug abuse and different types of violence.MethodThree hundred patients seeking medical advice in Mental Health Hospital participated in this study. After obtaining their informed written consent, they underwent urine analysis to determine the abused drug and filled up a questionnaire to determine the type of violence. In this study, the patients were asked to fill out two types of scales: Adolescent Alcohol and Drug Involvement Scale (AADIS) and the Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS).ResultsPatterns of drug abuse have been changed in Upper Egypt since the appearance of tramadol. The age of onset of abuse was 17.5 ± 5.5 years old. The age of 21–30 years old is the age of adult which is mostly affected. Most of the patients use combination of tramadol and others like alcohol, cannabis, other opioids, but 25% use tramadol alone. The type of violence changes from one drug abuse to another; auto-aggression was found in cannabis, while aggression towards objects and others was found in tramadol, inhalants, and other opioids.ConclusionDrug abuse is a direct cause that increases the violence in the community. Types and degree of violence differ according to the drug abuse type.

Highlights

Drug abuse and violence both are dangerous phenomena in all countries
According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), drug abuse comprises three stages: (1) Drug use refers to taking the drug to distinguish it. (2) Drug abuse refers to any harmful use of drugs
The aim of this study is to assess the relationship between type of drug abuse and type of violence, to measure the degree of violence related to each type of drug abuse, and to clarify the patterns of drug abuse in Upper Egypt

Summary

Introduction

Drug abuse and violence both are dangerous phenomena in all countries. Drug abuse is a dangerous phenomenon in all countries. In Egypt, the first report for prevalence of drug abuse was published in Arabic and proved that 6.2% of the population declared the use of these substances at least once (Rakhawy et al 1996) and this continued to increase as reported in Hamdi et al (2016). (2) Drug abuse refers to any harmful use of drugs. (3) dependence, refers to substance dependence as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) or Violence is a complex phenomenon, and WHO has defined it as the intentional use of threatened physical force against oneself, other person, or against a group or community that results in death, injury, maldevelopment, psychological harm, or deprivation (WHO 2002). In Egypt, according to the data obtained from the Ministry of Interior, reported homicide cases were 3549 with a rate of 4.34/100,000 in 2011, without causing death and without the suicidal cases (WHO 2014a, b)

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