title: [Use and abuse of alcohol and other psychoactive substances among Polish university students].
abstract: The results of country-wide research on alcohol and psychoactive substances use among Polish students are presented. The survey was carried out in the year 2000 and included 9446 students from 8 major academic centres in Poland. Negative events linked with the use of alcohol and drugs were discovered - 40% of students (42% of men and 37% of women) during the last two weeks exceeded the limit of dangerous drinking. Large range of harmful consequences of binge drinking has been found - one in three men and one in four women committed acts under the influence of alcohol, which they regretted after. One in four men under influence of alcohol was involved in aggressive fights with peers and one in six has had serious trouble with studying and bad assessments. The scope of drug use was much smaller but also alarming. During the last 30 days 7% of the studied population reported use of marijuana and 1.5% amphetamine. Abuse of alcohol was correlated with use of drugs. This creates a serious risk of cross addiction and shows an important role of alcohol drinking as a gateway to drug use.
authors.affiliation: Katedra Psychologii Uzaleznień, Przemocy i Sytuacji Kryzysowych, Szkoła Wyzsza Psychologii Społecznej, Warszawa, Poland. jurekm@wp.pl
authors.forename: Jerzy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mellibruda
authors.forename: Sabina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nikodemska
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fronczyk
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014495:Universities
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs