title: [Epidemiology of use and abuse of illegal drugs and medicinal drugs--Switzerland in the European context].
abstract: The use of heroin--the main substance of problem drug use in most European countries--seems to have stabilized. However, cannabis products are becoming more and more popular: There was a marked increase in the consumption of this drug during the last decade. In some countries cocaine use is on the rise. International comparisons of the misuse of psychoactive pharmaceuticals are difficult, mainly due to methodological reasons. As an example we focus here on Germany, where recent data from the national survey carried out in the year 2000 is available and shows that 2.2% of the adult population is reported to be dependent on pain-killers. The prevalence of people classified as dependent on sleeping tablets as well as tranquilisers was 0.5% respectively. The misuse of pharmaceuticals and hard illegal drugs is still a rare phenomenon in European countries--compared with widespread misuse of alcohol and tobacco--but the consumption trends of these types of addictive behaviours are worth monitoring closely.
authors.affiliation: Abteilung Sucht und Aids, Bundesamt für Gesundheit, CH-3003 Bern. verena.maag@bag.admin.ch
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Maag
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs