ABSTRACT
Objective
To measure the prevalence of lifetime, last-year, and last-month use of two club drugs – ecstasy and LSD –, as well as the characteristics associated with the last-month use of these substances among undergraduate students at a university in southern Brazil.
Methods
This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 2015 with a clustered systematic sampling strategy. Overall, 1,423 undergraduate students participated. A three-level hierarchical multivariate analysis model was used through Poisson regression with robust adjustment of variance.
Results
Prevalence of lifetime, last-year, and last-month use of club drugs were 12.7%, 7.8% and 3.8%, respectively. Male participants, with homosexual or bisexual sexual orientation, younger, who lived with their peers, who were single, and who reported last-month use of tobacco and marijuana had higher probability of last-month use club drugs. However, the variable most strongly associated with this outcome was having a friend with lifetime use of illicit drugs (PR = 19.54).
Conclusions
University environment seems to be a fertile ground for the spread of the use of club drugs. The strengthening of the university’s institutional assistance network, capable of proposing prevention activities, as well as identifying, supporting and referring cases where there is abuse and dependence on these substances can be an important strategy to deal with this problem.
Ecstasy; LSD; club drugs; students; university