RESUMO
Regarding the high prevalence of substance use among youth, its destructive effects and consequent problems, this research was performed. to determine the prevalence of substance use among students of Guilan University of Medical Sciences [GUMS] This was a cross-sectional study carried out on a representative sample of 845 students of GUMS in 2006. The data such as demographic information and history of substance use were collected using a questionnaire which completed by every single student. Later, the data were analyzed by EPI 2002 software and chi-square and Fisher-Exact tests. Due to incomplete responses, 18 questionnaires were excluded. Out of a total of 827 students, 30.1% had a history of substance use at least once during their lives. The prevalence rate of each substance in use was: cigarette [26.36%], alcohol [17.04%], opium [3.86%], cannabis [2.78%], ecstasy [2.05%], heroin [1.08], crystal [0.84%], cocaine [0.84%], morphine [0.6%] and others [0.6%]. Substance use was significantly associated with male gender, higher age groups, living with friends or alone, and marital status. There were significant relationships between substance use during past 30 days and studying medicine and dentistry. In addition, a relationship between substance use; once or more during life and residency period, was observed. Our study demonstrated that the substance use among students of GUMS is considerably high and specific interventions seem to be necessary in preventing or reducing the rate of substance use in students