Abstract

POSADA-VILLA, Jose A; HERAZO, Edwin  and  CAMPO-ARIAS, Adalberto. The gateway to illegal substance use in Colombia: violations of the gateway rule. Rev. salud pública [online]. 2009, vol.11, n.3, pp.406-413. ISSN 0124-0064.

Objective Establishing the frequency of gateway illegal substance use with alcohol or nicotine being violated amongst Colombian adults in the general population. Methods A descriptive study was carried out on adults from the general Colombian population. Gateway frequencies were determined for illegal substance use regarding substances other than alcohol or nicotine. Results A total of 4,426 adults participated in this research. A group of 127 people (3.3%) reported that they had started illegal substance use before using alcohol or nicotine; 2.3% of them had used other illegal substance before using cannabis, 0,6 % had smoked cannabis before using alcohol or nicotine and 0,4 % had used other illegal substances before using alcohol or nicotine. Conclusions A small group of people who use illegal substances in Colombia start with substances different to alcohol or nicotine. The factors associated with gateway use of illegal substances (regarding substance other than alcohol or nicotine) should be investigated.

Keywords : Substance-related disorders; epidemiology; prevalence; adult population; public health.

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