Uso de substâncias psicoativas por estudantes da área da saúde da UNISC.

Abstract

Psychoactive substances of illicit use are a global public health problem due to the increasing consumption and distribution and dependence generated, that in addition to offer health risks to the user brings so many social problems such as increase of violence and crime. These psychoactive substances, also called drugs, are all substances that cause changes in sensation, perception, behavior, level of consciousness, emotional condition, mood and thoughts, through the action in brain function, precisely in the central nervous system. The admission of young people in university it's a time of happiness, however due to changing environment, customs and other factors, can be transformed in a most vulnerable period to experimentation of drugs. This issue of drugs has motivated researches in various areas of knowledge and from several society areas, in order to know the usage pattern of psychoactive substances by the university students and the factors associated, since these young people will be responsible by the future of society. The aim of this research was to know and evaluate the use of illegal psychoactive substances, as well as what are the most used substances by the students in health area in UNISC. It was a cross-sectional descriptive study to obtain numerical values, with a sample of 447 students, by applying an anonymous structured questionnaire to verify the use of certain substances. The questionnaires were analyzed and the main results showed that the most consumed substance in life and currently was marijuana (20,6%), and most students reported using a year or more. The most reported reason to justify the use was curiosity (71%), followed by fun (52%). It is concluded and recommend the information obtained in this study is relevant and shows the need to develop and to implement policies that promote researches on this subject, as well as the active participation of the University.