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Alcohol Treatment Research: Broad Differences in Alcohol, Tobacco and Illegal Drug Use across Countries

A survey conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) research consortium found that the United States had among the highest lifetime rates of tobacco and alcohol use and led in the proportion of participants reporting cannabis (marijuana) or cocaine use at least once during their lifetime.
The study, led by Dr. Louisa Degenhardt of the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia and colleagues, looked at patterns in the use of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and cocaine in 17 countries representing all six WHO regions (the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania).
The study, funded in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is published in the July 1, 2008 issue of the open access journal PLoS Medicine.

"These findings add to our understanding of substance abuse worldwide, and suggest that drug use is still a major problem in this country, pointing to the need for more effective prevention interventions," said Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, NIH director.

"A survey of lifetime use does not provide the entire picture; however, because it does not reflect current use or trends over time," said Dr. Volkow, sounding a note of caution. "For example, although lifetime use of tobacco was reported by this study to be 74 % in the U.S., current use has been documented at approximately 30 %. Moreover, NIDA's Monitoring the Future survey has been consistently reporting a decrease in the past year use of illicit drugs over the past decade, so this survey may reflect a longer history of drug use in certain countries relative to others, but not necessarily current trends."

Among the significant findings of this study were:
Across countries and across the drug types in this survey, drug use is becoming more common over time.
Males were more likely than females to have used all drug types in all countries and all age groups.
Younger adults were more likely than older adults to have used these substances.
Those with higher incomes were more likely to have used legal and illegal drugs.
Alcohol had been used by the vast majority of survey participants in the Americas, Europe, Japan, and New Zealand, compared to smaller proportions in the Middle East, Africa and China.
Alcohol use by age 15 was far more common in European countries than in the Middle East or Africa.
Lifetime tobacco use was most common in the United States (74 %), Lebanon (67 %) Mexico and the Ukraine (60 and 61 %), followed by the Netherlands (58 %.)
Degenhardt L, Chiu W-T, Sampson N, Kessler RC, Anthony JC, et al. (2008) Toward a global view of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and cocaine use: Findings from the WHO World Mental Health Surveys. PLoS Med 5(7): e141. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050141

The article is available to view here http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050141.

DryOutNow.com provides highly practical help for people with alcohol problems, their friends and relatives. DryOutNow.com also provides free resources for healthcare professionals such as medical information and alcohol treatment guidelines.

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