Early-onset drug use and risk for drug dependence problems
Resource
Addictive Behaviors,34(3),319-322.
Journal
Addictive Behaviors
Pages
319-322
Date Issued
2009-03
Date
2009-03
Author(s)
Chen, CY
Storr, CL
Anthony, JC.
Abstract
There is substantial evidence that alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis dependence problems surface more quickly when use of these drugs starts before adulthood, but the evidence based on other internationally regulated drugs (e.g., cocaine) is meager. With focus on an interval of up to 24 months following first drug use, we examine drug-specific and age-specific variation in profiles of early-emerging clinical features associated with drug dependence. Based upon the United States National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) conducted in 2000-2002, the risk of experiencing drug dependence problems was robustly greater for adolescent recent-onset users of cocaine, psychostimulant drugs other than cocaine, analgesics, anxiolytic medicines, inhalants drugs, and cannabis, as compared to adult recent-onset users (odds ratio = 1.5-4.3, p < 0.05). This was not the case for the NSDUH hallucinogens group (e.g., LSD). The adolescent onset associated excess risk was not constant across all clinical features. Our evidence suggests promoting earlier detection and interventions, as well as greater parent and peer awareness of drug dependence clinical features that may develop early among young people who have just started using drugs. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
SDGs
Type
journal article