TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2013//
TI  - Prevalence, reasons, and forms of use of legal highs by internet-based survey participants
JO  - Psychiatria Polska
A1  - Mazurkiewicz, Maciej R.
A1  - Glogowski, Michał
A1  - Mrowińska, Dobrosława
A1  - Pakulski, Marcin
A1  - Matyjaszczyk, Michał
A1  - Kardas, Przemysław
SP  - 1143
EP  - 1155
VL  - 47
IS  - 6
N2  - AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence, causes and forms of the use of legal highs in Poland. <br><br>METHODS: The study was based on an original questionnaire and was carried out through the Internet before banning of the legal highs in Poland. <br><br>RESULTS: The study covered 3013 people, aged 24.7 +/- 6.9, of which 9.3% admitted to use legal highs (6.5% ofwomen, and 14.7% ofmen, P < 0.01). The highest percentage of legal highs users was in the age groups 19-25 years (10.6%). Most people taking legal highs did so less than 1 time per month (71.8%). The most common reasons for taking legal highs were curiosity (46.4%), the desire to have fun (26.8%), and to improve the well-being (10.7%). Legal highs were most often used during meetings with friends (68.9% of cases), and social events (52.1%). The majority of their users adopted other risky behaviors: 56.4% took them with alcohol, 86.4% tried narcotics at least once, and 13.9% decided to try narcotics after trying legal highs. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: 1. Among the respondents of the online survey 9.3% admitted to use legal highs. 2. A typical profile of a legal high user is a young man, using them out of curiosity, to improve the well-being or just for fun, usually in social situations. 3. Initiatives undertaken to reduce the use of legal highs have to consider the social context.<p />  <p>Language: pl</p>
LA  - pl
SN  - 0033-2674
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -