Preliminary findings of an epidemiological survey of drug addiction in Paris.

An epidemiological survey of drug addiction in the Paris region included three studies which were carried out in 1981 and 1982. The first study of 100 clinical records revealed, inter alia, that only a small proportion of drug addicts had been referred to the institution by parents, general practitioners and the medical and social services, while the majority of cases had decided spontaneously or in response to peer pressure to seek consultation. The second study, which concerned the latency time, showed that for the majority of addicts, less than three years elapsed between the first use of heroin and the first consultation and that, on average, one year elapsed between the time when the addict became aware of his or her dependence and the first consultation. The third study, which was ethnographic, indicated that the first request for treatment was most often not prompted by the onset of a physical disorder related to drug use or withdrawal but by a situation which involved a number of factors, particularly a feeling or being tired of drug addiction.