University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurobiology, 401 Beacon Parkway West, Birmingham, AL 35209, USA.
J Addict Med. 2012 Mar;6(1):57-67. doi: 10.1097/ADM.0b013e318233d603.
The term "drug of choice" (DOC) refers to substance abusers' preferred drug and this information often adds to the clinical picture of the patient because substance users often meet diagnostic criteria for dependence on multiple drugs. Characteristics such as age, race, marital status, and psychiatric illnesses have been shown to differentiate among individuals with different DOC preferences. However, no studies have examined DOC in the context of criminal behavior and other drug dependencies.
The participants (N = 15,475) of a community corrections program, Treatment Alternatives for Safer Communities (TASC), were classified by DOC for the 4 main drugs of abuse (alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and opioids) and each drug class was compared with the other 3 DOC using binary logistic regression.
Alcohol as DOC was associated with being older, white, male, having private health insurance, being medicated for a mental health disorder, and having a criminal history of person offenses. Cocaine as DOC was associated with being older, black, female, attempting suicide, having less than a high school education, living in a shelter or with relatives, being unemployed, being uninsured, being physically and sexually abused, and committing property and court offenses but not person or substance offenses. Marijuana as DOC was associated with being younger, black, male, never being married, and committing substance but not property or court offenses. Opioids as DOC were associated with being white, female, being married, higher education, being unemployed, and being medicated for a mental health disorder.
Overall, there were substantial differences between the 4 DOC groups, and the results are commensurate with expectations based on the abuse and dependency literature.
“首选药物”（DOC）一词是指药物滥用者偏爱的药物，这一信息通常会增加患者的临床特征，因为药物滥用者通常符合多种药物依赖的诊断标准。年龄、种族、婚姻状况和精神疾病等特征已被证明可以区分具有不同首选药物的个体。然而，尚无研究在犯罪行为和其他药物依赖的背景下探讨首选药物。
社区矫正项目“更安全社区治疗替代方案”（TASC）的参与者（N=15475）根据 4 种主要滥用药物（酒精、大麻、可卡因和阿片类药物）的首选药物进行分类，并使用二项逻辑回归比较每种药物类别与其他 3 种 DOC。
作为首选药物的酒精与年龄较大、白人、男性、私人医疗保险、因心理健康障碍接受药物治疗以及有犯罪前科有关。可卡因作为首选药物与年龄较大、黑人、女性、试图自杀、未完成高中学业、居住在收容所或与亲戚同住、失业、没有保险、遭受身体和性虐待以及犯下财产和法庭罪有关，但没有犯下人身或药物罪。大麻作为首选药物与年龄较小、黑人、男性、从未结婚以及犯下药物罪但没有犯下财产或法庭罪有关。阿片类药物作为首选药物与白人、女性、已婚、接受高等教育、失业以及因心理健康障碍接受药物治疗有关。
总体而言，4 种首选药物群体之间存在显著差异，结果与基于滥用和依赖文献的预期相符。
