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Objective:Abuse of psychoactive drugs for therapeutic purposes is becoming more common due to their addiction potential. In many studies, quetiapine has been reported to be abused with illicit drugs. We aimed to point to the abuse and addiction potential of quetiapine by the rates of quetiapine abuse in blood samples of 4,293 cases who came to our Forensic Toxicology Laboratory by using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method.Methods:All cases who were caught by law enforcement officers while using or trading drugs as a requirement of the judicial process initiated were drug users or dealers and then they were brought to our forensic toxicology laboratory to obtain blood and urine samples. Quantification in blood samples was performed in routine laboratory analysis. The cases were asked whether they used any prescription drugs. The therapeutic drug users were excluded in this study.Results:Quetiapine was positive in 50 of 4,293 cases (1.16%). 93.8% (n=4028) of all cases and all of the positive quetiapine were male. While quetiapine was used alone in 11 of 50 cases with quetiapine positivity, quetiapine was used simultaneously with one or more groups of illicit drugs in the remaining 39 cases.Conclusion:In this study, the most common use of cannabis and quetiapine was determined in cases with drugs of abuse. The monitoring of quetiapine is essential for preventing drug abuse especially in prone population such as illicit drug abusers and addicts. Forensic Toxicology Laboratories play an important role in taking necessary preventions related to drug abuse.

Synthetic cannabinoids which is a subgroup of cannabinoids are commonly used for recreational drug use throughout the whole world. Although both marijuana and synthetic cannabinoids stimulate the same receptors, cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) and cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2), studies have shown that synthetic cannabinoids are much more potent than marijuana. The longer use of synthetic cannabinoids can cause severe physical and psychological symptoms that might even result in death, similar to many known illicit drugs. Main treatment options mostly involve symptom management and supportive care. The aim of this article is to discuss clinical and pharmacological properties of the increasingly used synthetic cannabinoids. [Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar - Current Approaches in Psychiatry 2017; 9(3.000): 317-328]

Objective: The age of using psychoactive drug has decreased in recent years while it has threatened children. This study considers types of psychoactive drugs used, risk factors and causal attributions among primary school 5th grade students in TRNC. Methods: The study was conducted with 2345 students during May and June 2015 in 75 public primary schools and two private primary schools that are dependent to Ministry of Education and Culture in TRNC. In this study, USA Department of Education 'California Healthy Kids Survey' was used by adapting to Turkish. Results: The study found the lifetime prevalence of cigarette use 10.9%, alcohol use 23.5% and illicit drug use 1.2%. Half of the students (51.3%) reported they have known name of an illicit drug other than cigarette and alcohol. The most known illicit drug is 'bonsai' (5.3%) among students. Living in a city, having brother/sister, having separate parents and being exposed to bad behaviour are predictive risk factors for using cigarette and alcohol. On the other hand, being male, being exposed to bad behaviour and physical violence are predictive risk factors for using illicit drugs. Conclusions: This study shows that the age of using psychoactive drug has decreased in TRNC and it even exists among primary school students like all over the world. This study proves that prevention studies for psychoactive drug use for children needs to be put into practice as soon as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]