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Background: Addiction is a chronic relapsing disorder and there are several factors influencing its commencement and continuance. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to examine the effective factors in first drug use experience among male and female addicts in recovery. Methods: Interviews were performed with 40 individuals (20 females and 20 males) at addiction treatment centers across the city of Kerman, using criterion sampling. Transcripts were analyzed for themes, which represented the shared consensus of the research participants and the utilization of MAXQDA12 software helped in the analysis of data. Results: Participants of the present study reported four factors, including family (addiction of a family member, family's positive attitude towards drug use, family's belief that drugs are curative, and selling drugs by a family member), friends (having addict friends at school, military service, marital life, and blindly following friends' opinion towards addiction), partner (addiction of a spouse and their compulsions), and stress (stress as a result of loss or bereavement and physical pain) as the most effective factors paving the way for their first drug use experience. Three factors of family, friends, and stress were common for both males and females yet, interestingly, partner's addiction was only referred to by females as the main reason for their first drug use experience. Conclusions:The findings of the present study stress the need to focus on the role of family in preventive addiction programs, as well as educating individuals to learn better partner-seeking and friendship skills, and stress management.

Addiction is one of the biggest predicaments in today's world which inflicts negative consequences upon individuals and communities. The aim of the present study was to examine the consequences of substance abuse on the life of women and men during recovery. The study was conducted with a qualitative approach using phenomenological method. Forty Participants recovering from addiction (20 women and 20 men) were selected through criterion sampling out of drug addiction treatment centers across the city of Kerman, Iran. Data were collected using semistructured interviews. Data collection was continued to achieve data saturation. Following data analysis, 149 codes and 16 subthemes were identified. We also finalized two major themes, individual consequences and individual-familial consequences. The findings further highlighted the negative consequences of addiction in men and women populations. Highlighting these consequences can help inform individuals and the society about the hazards of drugs. Furthermore, officials in charge of education and prevention of addiction across the nation can obtain knowledge out of these findings.