Abstract:

Background: This study has been made to identify the cases of Maras weed and substance use in the last grade high school students in the city center of Kahramanmaras and to identify the influencing factors. Methods: The population of the cross sectional study consisted of 7632 last grade high school students in the city center of Kahramanmaras. 47 high school names in total were put in a bag and names were randomly picked until the number of students reached 1541. The sampling was completed when all of these students were reached. A survey form including 59 questions about sociodemographic attributes, Maras weed and substance was created. Results: Participants' gender distribution was 57.2% male and 42.8% female. The prevalence rate of Maras weed use in last grade high school students in the city center of Kahramanmaras was detected as 16.1% while the prevalence of substance abuse was 6.1%. The students were using respectively; volatile substance (32.3%), marijuana (30.1%), bonsai (8.6%), heroin (6.5%) and ecstasy (4.3%). It was seen that family members and close friends of substance abusers were found to be frequently using psychoactive substances. In addition, the drug addiction rate was higher in Maras weed abusers (p<0,001). Conclusion: It was found that Maras weed and substance abuse rate was high in students. Most of the students mentioned that they had no difficulty in reaching out these substances. Society-based studies should be conducted so as to raise students’ awareness about the harm of substance abuse.

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