Psychoactive drug use for non-medical purpose among middle school students in Guangdong province

Objective To investigate the prevalence of psychoactive drug abuse among middle school students in Guangdong province and to provide evidences for the management of psychoactive drugs.Methods A total of 21 449 students from 12 schools were recruited with three-stage cluster sampling.Results Among all the respondents,10.37% reported psychoactive drugs use without medical purposes,and the abuse rate showed a significant difference among schools(P<0.001).Among the students,4.5% reported the usage of compound liquorice tablet at any time;1.56% and 0.97% reported the usage of Akafen powder during previous 12 months and 30 days.Among the students reporting history of psychoactive drug use,65.03% used the drugs firstly at the time of first year into or before entering the high school;38.29%got the drugs they used from home and 38.29% used the drugs for releasing the pressure.Conclusion Psychoactive drug use for non-medical purpose is prevalent and compound liquorice tablet and Akafen powder are most frequently used drugs among middle school students in Guangdong province.