Extent and Patterns of Drug Abuse and Its Associated Factors in Egypt

• NCJ Number: 119684
• Journal: Bulletin on Narcotics Volume: 38 Issue: 1 & 2, double issue Dated: (January-June 1986) Pages: 113-120
• Author(s): M I Soueif; F A Yunis; H S Taha
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: Austria
• Note: Double issue on the nature and extent of drug abuse problems and social responses

Annotation

This article provides an overview of the drug abuse situation in Egypt based on a series of large-scale field surveys conducted between 1957 and 1976.

Abstract

In collecting data, the authors used interviews, questionnaires, and objectives tests of psychological functions. Instruments were designed to meet research objectives and meet specific local conditions. Survey research between 1957 and 1974 focused on correlations between cannabis use and various psychosocial factors; beginning in 1975, research was redirected to concentrate on the epidemiology of drug abuse. Because of cultural considerations, the only women subjects were university students, while male subjects ranged across the socioeconomic spectrum. The most recent surveys show that 30 percent of male industrial workers and 20 percent of male students have used drugs at some time. The respondents ranked alcohol as the most frequently abused substance, followed by cannabis and opiates, and psychotropic substances. Alcohol and cannabis use generally occurred initially during social situations, while the first use of psychotropic substances was often an attempt to cope with physical or mental stress. The authors contend it is the drug users, rather than the non-users, who hear about drugs, see drugs and have personal friends and relatives who themselves abuse drugs. 28 references. (Author abstract modified)