RESUMO
This paper examines the use of a new illicit drug--embalming fluid mixtures--in Hartford, CT based on a recent assessment of drug consumption in an outreach-recruited sample of 242 not-in-treatment active drug users. Sociodemographic, drug use, and health and social problems of drug users who do and do not use embalming fluid mixture are presented, revealing some notable differences between these two groups of street drug users. Despite regular consumption, we report that embalming fluid mixture users are often uncertain about what is in this new drug, despite experiencing often powerful effects. Urine toxicology findings from a subsample of individuals who used embalming fluid mixtures in the last 48 hours, reveal the frequent presence of phencyclidine (PCP) as well as other drugs. The public health implications of this new wave of PCP use are assessed.
Assuntos
Embalsamamento , Etnicidade/estatística & dados numéricos , Formaldeído , Drogas Ilícitas/provisão & distribuição , Abuso de Fenciclidina/etnologia , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias/etnologia , População Urbana/estatística & dados numéricos , Síndrome da Imunodeficiência Adquirida/transmissão , Adolescente , Adulto , População Negra/psicologia , População Negra/estatística & dados numéricos , Connecticut , Estudos Transversais , Contaminação de Medicamentos/estatística & dados numéricos , Interações Medicamentosas , Etnicidade/psicologia , Feminino , Formaldeído/efeitos adversos , Formaldeído/provisão & distribuição , Inquéritos Epidemiológicos , Hispânico ou Latino/psicologia , Hispânico ou Latino/estatística & dados numéricos , Humanos , Drogas Ilícitas/efeitos adversos , Incidência , Masculino , Fenciclidina/efeitos adversos , Abuso de Fenciclidina/epidemiologia , Abuso de Fenciclidina/psicologia , Medição de Risco , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias/epidemiologia , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias/psicologia , População Branca/psicologia , População Branca/estatística & dados numéricosRESUMO
During the past decade, there has been a well-documented rise in the non-medical use of prescription painkillers, often referred to as narcotics analgesics (NA). Relatively little is known, however, about who these users are, the range of health and social consequences associated with their use and the presence of illicit NA use on the inner city street. Results of a survey conducted with a sample of 242 street drug users indicated that NA use is now widespread in the inner city, and that it is associated with a number of serious health and psychiatric conditions. Other characteristics of this emerging drug user group are explored and the need for future research is highlighted.
