RECREATIONAL DRUG USE IN ALGERIA: A SHORT COHORT STUDY

In the Middle East and worldwide, drug abuse is a growing problem for authorities Defined as the ingestion of substance for their psychoactive effect .it is a main reason for cardiovascular neuronal avoidable comorbidities The aim of this study is to settle the prevalence of Recreational drug (RD) and the tendency of consumption METHOD: We analyzed the data of 40 cases that came to the medical and surgery emergency department units in 03 months starting from July,1st 2023 The data were analyzed by IBM SPSS RESULTS: Among the 40 included cases, 7 were female. The median age was 30 years. The patient presented at night (20:00– 07:59) in 25 cases, and during the weekend in19 cases (47.5%). The average length of stay is 57h34 minutes. The drugs most commonly involved were Cocaine 35.5% followed by buprenorphine 27.5% and pregabalin 22.5% then cannabis 17.5% Drugs were combined with other toxic agents in 20 cases (50%) to cocaine In 3 cases, the patient died during his hospitalization (7.5%) 8 cases (20%) required naloxone use CONCLUSION: The trend of drug consumption is different from the European model. Cocaine is 35.5% KEY-WORDS: Recreational drug use, intoxication, emergency medical department, prevalence, North Africa, substance abuse