Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-03T13:02:26.121Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 2 - Illicit Drug Use: Epidemiology, Aetiology and Prevention

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 November 2021

By
Ed Day
Edited by
Ed Day
Get access

Summary

This chapter begins with an exploration of the epidemiology of illicit drug use. Measuring the use of illicit drugs accurately can be challenging, and the initial focus is on the various potential sources of data in the UK. Methods for estimating the prevalence of opiate and crack cocaine use are discussed, and the prevalence and trends in both specialist addiction and mental health services are reviewed. The aetiology of drug use and dependence is then explored using a framework of risk and protective factors. The brain disease model of addiction is described alongside challenges to its validity, with a consideration of why some people get addicted and others do not. Psychological models of addiction are reviewed and integrated into a wider biopsychosocial model. Finally, protective factors against drug use in adolescence are considered, and the evidence for prevention strategies summarised.

Keywords

illicit drugsopiatesepidemiologyprevalencerisk and protective factorsaetiologybrain disease modelpsychological modelprevention
Type
Chapter
Information
Seminars in Addiction Psychiatry , pp. 15 - 41
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. World Drug Report. United Nations publication, Sales No. E.20.XI.6; 2020.Google Scholar
NHS Digital. Statistics on Drugs Misuse, England, 2019: Health and Social Care Information Centre; 2019 [updated November 2019. Available from: https://bit.ly/2O90MxL.]Google Scholar
Hay, G., Rael dos Santos, A., Reed, H., Hope, V. Estimates of the Prevalence of Opiate Use and/or Crack Cocaine Use, 2016/17: Sweep 13 report. Liverpool John Moores University: Public Health Institute; 2019.Google Scholar
Public Health England. Adult substance misuse statistics from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS): 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017. London: PHE; 2017.Google Scholar
Weaver, T., Madden, P., Charles, V., Timso, G. S., Renton, A., Tyrer, P. et al. Comorbidity of substance misuse and mental illness in community mental health and substance misuse services. British Journal of Psychiatry. 2003; 183: 304–13.Google Scholar
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. United Kingdom: Country Drug Report 2019. Luxembourg: : Publications Office of the European Union; 2019.Google Scholar
White, W., Kurtz, E. Recovery – Linking Addiction Treatment and Communities of Recovery: A Primer for Addiction Counselors and Recovery Coaches. Pittsburgh, PA: Institute for Research, Education and Training in Addictions (IRETA); 2006.Google Scholar
Strang, J., Volkow, N. D., Degenhardt, L., Hickman, M., Johnson, K., Koob, G. F. et al. Opioid use disorder. Nature Reviews Disease Primers. 2020; 6( 1): 3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Degenhardt, L., Stockings, E., Patton, G., Hall, W. D., Lynskey, M. The increasing global health priority of substance use in young people. The Lancet Psychiatry. 2016; 3 (3): 251–64.Google Scholar
Stone, A. L., Becker, L. G., Huber, A. M., Catalano, R. F. Review of risk and protective factors of substance use and problem use in emerging adulthood. Addict Behaviour. 2012; 37 (7): 747–75.Google Scholar
Toumbourou, J. W., Catalano, R. F. predicting developmentally harmful substance use. In: Stockwell, T., Gruenewald, P. J., Toumbourou, J. W., Loxley, W., eds.. Preventing Harmful Substance Use. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons; 2005. p. 53–65.Google Scholar
Hser, Y.-I., Longshore, D., Anglin, M. D. The life course perspective on drug use: A conceptual framework for understanding drug use trajectories. Evaluation Review. 2007; 31: 515–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Darke, S. The Life of the Heroin User: Typical Beginnings, Trajectories and Outcomes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2011.Google Scholar
Wilson, N., Kariisa, M., Seth, P., Smith, H., Davis, N. L. Drug and opioid-involved overdose deaths – United States, 2017–2018. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2020; 69 (290–7).Google Scholar
Degenhardt, L., Dierker, L., Chiu, W. T., Medina-Mora, M. E., Neumark, Y., Sampson, N. et al. Evaluating the drug use ‘gateway’ theory using cross-national data: Consistency and associations of the order of initiation of drug use among participants in the WHO World Mental Health Surveys. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2010; 108 (1): 84–97.Google Scholar
Leshner, A. I. Addiction is a brain disease, and it matters. 1997; 278 (5335): 45–7.Google ScholarPubMed
US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): Office of the Surgeon General. Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health. Washington, DC: HHS; 2016.Google Scholar
Koob, G. F., Schulkin, J. Addiction and stress: An allostatic view. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 2019; 106: 245–62.Google Scholar
Koob, G. F., Volkow, N. D. Neurocircuitry of addiction. Neuropsychopharmacology Reviews. 2010; 35: 217–38.Google Scholar
Goldman, D., Oroszi, G., Ducci, F. The genetics of addictions: Uncovering the genes. Nature Genetics. 2005; 6: 521–32.Google Scholar
Crist, R. C., Reiner, B. C., Berrettini, W. H. A review of opioid addiction genetics. Current Opinion in Psychology. 2019; 27: 31–5.Google Scholar
Robins, L. N. Vietnam veterans’ rapid recovery from heroin addiction: a fluke or normal expectation? Addiction. 1993; 88: 1041–54.Google Scholar
Alexander, B. K., Beyerstein, B. L., Hadaway, P. F., Coambs, R. A. Effect of early and later colony housing on oral ingestion of morphine in rats. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior. 1981; 15: 571–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hart, C. L., Haney, M., Foltin, R. W., Fischman, M. W. Alternative reinforcers differentially modify cocaine self-administration by humans. Behavioural Pharmacology. 2000; 11 (1): 87–91.Google Scholar
Hart, C. L., Marvin, C. B., Silver, R., Smith, E. E. Is cognitive functioning impaired in methamphetamine users? A critical review. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2012; 37( 3): 586–608.Google Scholar
Hart, C. L. Exaggerating harmful drug effects on the brain is killing black people. Neuron. 2020; 107 (2): 215–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
West, R., Brown, J. Theory of Addiction. 2nd ed. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell; 2013.Google Scholar
West, R. Models of Addiction. Lisbon: EMCDDA; 2013.Google Scholar
Moos, R. H. Theory-based processes that promote the remission of substance use disorders. Clinical Psychology Review. 2007; 27: 537–51.Google Scholar
Moos, R. H. Theory-based active ingredients of effective treatments for substance use disorders. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2007; 88 (2–3): 109–21.Google Scholar
Meyers, R. J., Miller, W. R. A Community Reinforcement Approach to Addiction Treatment. New York: Cambridge University Press; 2001.Google Scholar
National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress and Possibilities. Washington (DC): National Academies Press; 2009.Google Scholar
Babor, T. F., Caulkins, J., Fischer, B., Foxcroft, D., Humphreys, K., Medina-Mora, M. E. et al. Drug Policy and the Public Good. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2018.Google Scholar
Kumpfer, K. L., Alvarado, R., Whiteside, H. O. Family-based interventions for substance use and misuse prevention. Substance Use and Misuse. 2003; 38 (11–13): 1759–87.Google Scholar
Stockings, E., Hall, W. D., Lynskey, M., Morley, K. I., Reavley, N., Strang, J. et al. Prevention, early intervention, harm reduction, and treatment of substance use in young people. The Lancet Psychiatry. 2016; 3 (3): 280–96.Google Scholar
Conrod, P. J., Castellanos-Ryan, N., Brief, Strang J., Personality-targeted coping skills interventions and survival as a non-drug user over a 2-year period during adolescence. Archives of General Psychiatry. 2010; 67 (1): 85–93.Google Scholar
Conrod, P. J., O’Leary-Barrett, M., Newton, N., Topper, L., Castellanos-Ryan, N., Mackie, C. et al. Effectiveness of a selective, personality-targeted prevention program for adolescent alcohol use and misuse: A cluster randomized controlled trial. JAMA Psychiatry. 2013; 70 (3): 334–42.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×