Abstract:
Background-Aims: This study compares illegal drug and alcohol use behaviors between medical and nonmedical users of prescription opioids (PO) and nonmedical users with distinct motives to use. Method: An ethically approved cross-sectional study (2010) was conducted on a representative sample of private university students (n = 570), using a self-filled anonymous questionnaire. Results: About 25percent reported using PO only medically and 15percent nonmedically. The prevalence of alcohol and illegal drug use was consistently higher among nonmedical than medical PO users. Adjusting for age and gender, lifetime medical users of PO were more likely to use marijuana only (OR = 1.8, 95percent CI: 1.1, 2.8), while nonmedical users were at higher odds of using marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine-crack, and alcohol problematically. Compared to nonusers, students who took PO nonmedically for nontherapeutic reasons were more likely to use various illegal drugs, but nonmedical users who took PO to relieve pain-help in sleep were only more likely to use marijuana (OR = 2.5, 95percent CI: 1.1, 5.4) and alcohol (e.g. alcohol abuse; OR = 3.8, 95percent CI: = 1.4, 10.1). Conclusion: Youth who use PO nonmedically to self-treat have a different alcohol and illegal drug-using profile than those who take it for nontherapeutic reasons. © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.