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Prevalence and demographic factors of stimulant use
Author(s) -
PICKERING H.,
STIMSON GERRY V.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0965-2140
DOI - 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1994.tb03734.x
Subject(s) - stimulant , recreation , harm , environmental health , substance abuse , recreational drug , medicine , poison control , suicide prevention , psychiatry , injury prevention , public health , addiction , occupational safety and health , drug , psychology , political science , social psychology , nursing , pathology , law
The use of stimulants for recreation purposes has increased considerably during the 20th century. Cocaine was first considered to be a drug of potential abuse during the First World War but was only perceived as a serious threat when it became widely used in socially and economically deprived urban areas of the USA in the 1980s. Use of amphetamines was common among certain occupational groups as a means of remaining alert until the 1950s, when they were seen to be abused by a small minority of recreational users. Controls were then introduced in most developed countries. The public health issue of stimulant use is that of finding a balance between the prevention of serious social or personal harm caused by abuse of these drugs while not impeding their beneficial use.