Poisonings with street drugs:a review of 1993-2008 data from the toxicology unit in Poland

Abstract

Objective: Drugs of abuse have been known in many cultures and geographical zones, and also in Poland the extent of substance abuse has been increasing. Material and Methods: This report refers to patients treated for poisonings with street drugs at the Toxicology Unit (TU), Łódź, Poland during the period [1993][1994][1995][1996][1997][1998][1999][2000][2001][2002][2003][2004][2005][2006][2007][2008]. The data to be analyzed was obtained from medical files of all patients treated for street drugs or hallucinogens abuse. Results: The kind of the drugs used has changed significantly; between 1993 and 1998 the majority of patients were opiate users, in 1999-2002 the dominant drug was amphetamine and in [2003][2004][2005][2006][2007][2008] there was recurrent increase in the number of opiate poisonings. Male patients were represented in the studied group more often than female ones. The percentages of patients treated after suicidal attempts ranged from 9.3% in 1993-1994 to 15.9% in 2007-2008. During the analyzed period 1993-2008, cases of overdose were less frequent, while accidental intoxications became more common. Conclusions: Drug abuse is a serious problem in Poland, it has expanded in recent years and it is likely to expand further in the years to come. The treatment of drug-addicted people needs to be improved and a suitable prevention program should be developed.

Escalation of methamphetamine-related crime and fatalities in the Dresden region, Germany, between 2005 and 2011

“…With the exception of the Czech and Slovak Republic, where ''pervitin'', the name given to MA in Czech Republic, is most frequently used and already produced in home laboratories before 1989, a low prevalence of MA abuse is reported in most Europe [6,11,13,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21].…”

Shake ‘N Bake: the Migration of ‘Pervitin’ to Ireland

“…Methamphetamine has historically dominated the drug market in the Czech and Slovak Republics ('Pervitin', 'Vint', 'Shirka' (Csete 2012;Zábranský 2007). With the exception of the Czech and Slovak Republic, a low prevalence of methamphetamine use was previously reported in most European member states (Bruggisser et al 2010;Csemy et al 2002;Griffith et al 2008;Krakowiak et al 2010;Maxwell and Rutkowski 2008;McKetin et al 2008;Schifano et al 2010;Sudakin and Power 2009;3 Verschraagen et al 2007). Rising seizures are reported in the Baltics and Eastern Europe (Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and the Republic of Moldova), and with diffusion of use to further afield in the Nordic countries, Germany, Cyprus, Greece and Portugal (Degenhardt et al 2010;EMCDDA 2014a,b;Griffiths et al 2008;Pietsch et al 2013;UNODC 2015).…”