Which psychoactive prescription drugs are illegally obtained and through which ways of acquisition? About OPPIDUM survey

Abstract

The objective of the study was to determine which psychoactive prescription drugs are illegally obtained and through which ways of acquisition. OPPIDUM is an annual national study. It is based on specialized care centers that included subjects presenting a drug dependency or under opiate maintenance treatment. All their psychoactive substances consumed are reported. This work focuses on the different ways of acquisition specially the illegal ways of acquisition (bought on the street, forged prescription, stolen, given, internet). For each medication illegally obtained, a ratio has been calculated (number of illegal acquisitions divided by the number of described acquisitions). In 2008, 5542 subjects have been included and have described the consumption of 11 027 substances including 63.8% of prescription drugs. Among them, 11% were illegally obtained. The different illegal acquisition ways were 'street market' (77.6%), 'gift' (16.6%), 'theft' (2.3%), 'forged prescription' (2.3%), and 'internet' (0.7%). The third first drugs illegally obtained were high dosage buprenorphine, methadone, and clonazepam. Some prescription drugs, less consumed, have an important ratio of illegal acquisition like ketamine, flunitrazepam, morphine, trihexyphenidyl, or methylphenidate. This study confirms that theft, forged prescription and internet are few used and permits to highlight diversion of prescription drugs. It is important to inform healthcare professionals on the different prescription drugs that are illegally obtained.

Differences existing between USA and Europe in opioids purchase on Internet: an interpretative review

“…However, this phenomenon should be contextualized in the global reality of opioids use and abuse, that have large diffusion in the society through different ways of sale. Previous studies suggested poor percentages of Web use in the opioids purchase (1-6%) and a greater confidence of people in local pharmacies than in Internet-based pharmacies (Frauger et al, 2012;Giacometti et al, 2013). The current scenario demonstrates that the application of the new ways of communication could have positive effects on health (de Waure et al, 2012), but it is important to monitor and control the use of these instruments, such as the Internet, in order to avoid some negative effects.…”

“…Among them, 11% were illegally obtained. The different illegal acquisition ways reported were ''street market'' (77.6%), ''gift'' (16.6%), ''theft'' (2.3%), ''forged prescription'' (2.3%), and ''Internet'' (0.7%) (Frauger et al, 2012). These results confirm other available data which report that the role of Internet in the drugs commerce may be overstated (Giacometti et al, 2013;Inciardi et al, 2009;McCabe et al, 2007).…”

New Methadone Formulation in France: Results from 5 Years of Utilization

“…Indeed, in 2008, a French study reported that in 5.9% of cases, methadone was obtained illegally. [30] Finally, methadone dispensing to patients followed in addiction care centres, and those who were hospitalized or incarcerated, are not included in the study database. Because of these limitations, our evaluation underestimates the number of switches and the number of concurrent issues of the two forms.…”

Risks Associated with International Trading of Medicines by Non-Licensed Entities and Non-Professionals

“…By making it easier for people to get the medicines without any control, these traders facilitate to feed the habits of people afected by the abuse condition [118][119][120][121].…”