Descripción

Objective: To characterize the use of psychoactive substances in the student population of four universities in the city of Pasto. Methods: Descriptive and cross-sectional study, based on a simple random sample of four private universities; prevalence of the last year = 10.0%, error = 1.8%, confidence level = 95%, for a total of 1,623 students from the four universities, enrolled in period B of the year 2019. The questionnaire was taken from the Inter-American System of Uniform Data on Drug Use, remotely accessed through a server of the Organization of American States, so that students could respond online through a web page. The statistical program SAS version 9.3 was used for the statistical analysis of the data. Results: The most commonly used substance was alcohol, followed by cigarettes and marijuana. The perception of risk associated with the use of these substances was low. Finally, based on the variable ‘Access’ to acquire these substances, the supply of alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana prevailed. Conclusion: The use of psychoactive substances (PAS) is a complex problem that mainly affects the young population of productive age. This situation is largely related to the use of legalized substances that are integrated into university life.