[Cocaine abuse and multiple use of psychoactive substances in university students]

Abstract

Objectives: To identify the prevalence of cocaine consumption among university students and to analyse the use of other drugs among the regular cocaine consumers.

Method: An observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study performed within the Education, Sciences and Psychology Faculties and the Nursing and Polytechnic Schools belonging to the University of Girona. The selected sample included 2139 first year university students. A self-constructed questionnaire was used to obtain the information regarding gender, age, Faculty, and the status of consume.

Results: The participants were 47.2% males and 52.8% females, with an age range between 17 and 35 years old (median=21 years, SD=3.14). One per-cent of the participants considered themselves usual cocaine consumers. Nine out of every 10 students also use alcohol (95.2%) and cannabis (90.5%).

Conclusions: It has been shown that university students have health threatening habits, such as cocaine abuse. It is more common the use of other drugs among cocaine users than among non-consumers. Preventive and educational programs at the university may be required to reduce and prevent toxic substances abuse among university students.