Pinnacle Medicine & Medical Sciences ISSN: 2360-9516 http:/www.pjpub.org © Author(s) 2014. CC Attribution 3.0 License. Research Article Vol. 1 (5), 2014 Drug Abuse Among Young People In Northern Kosovo Dr. Jovana Cvetković¹*, Prof. Dr. Milutin Nenadović² & Dr. Mag Mirjana Stojanović Tasić1³ ¹,²,³Clinic for Neuropsychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Priština/ Kosovska Mitrovica Anri Dinana bb, Priština/Kosovska Mitrovica, Srbija. ²Clinic for Psychiatry, Dr Laza Lazarević, Beograd. Accepted 13 December 2014 Corresponding Author: Dr. Jovana Cvetković¹* Clinic for Neuropsychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Priština/ Kosovska Mitrovica Anri Dinana bb, Priština/Kosovska Mitrovica, Srbija.. Email address: smijoc@yahoo.com / jovana.cvetkovic@med.pr.ac.rs ABSTRACT Drugs have the capacity to cause changes in behavior, perception, cognition and mood, and the desire to continue with their use, despite potentially very damaging consequences. The use of these substances occurs in both sexes and in all racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and geographic groups. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of drug abuse among students of the Faculty of Technical Sciences, Department of Environmental Protection from Kosovska Mitrovica. Materials and Methods: The data is presented in tables, absolute numbers and with the corresponding percentage structure in parentheses. Analysis of respondents was based on the year the respondent was attending, type of psychoactive substances, and in relation to gender. Comparison of the frequency of the parametric was performed by a chi-square test. Statistical analysis of the collected data was performed using SPSS 17.0 for Windows XP with the level of significance of p <0.05. Authorized questionnaires were distributed to students, the objectives of the study were explained to them and they were given the necessary instructions to properly complete the questionnaire, after which participants agreed to fill out the questionnaire in 15 minutes on a voluntary and individual basis. Respondents were guaranteed privacy through anonymous participation. Results and Discussion: In the total sample of 122 respondents who participated in the study, all were students, with the average age of 20.93±2.48. Of this number, 86 (70.5) were male and 36 (29.5) were female. Of the total number of students, 65 of them (53.3%) had never tried a narcotic. The number of those who have tried or are currently consuming is 57 (46.7%). Most of them have tried or consumed marijuana (17 - 29.8%) and ecstasy (17 - 29.8%), and most of them attended the fourth (9 - 64.3%) and fifth year (12 - 66.7%), while the lowest number attended the second year (16 - 36.4%). Conclusion: The obtained results show that the tested students are not using any drugs that would be a threat to their health. Marijuana use is higher among male population. Bearing in mind the consequences drug use has on young individuals at a sensitive stage of development, such as the student population, the entire society at all its levels, from the legislative sphere, media, local community, universities, up to the family itself, should approach preventing the spread of this phenomenon in an extremely serious and responsible manner, providing maximum potential in each of its segments. Keywords: drugs, students, risk. Introduction Drug abuse among children and young people presents one of the gravest contemporary problems not only due to the long-term negative effect it has on all aspects of a young person's life (physical and mental health, education, quality of interaction with their family, developing intimate relationships, etc.), but also because of a specific transgenerational effect it has. It is believed that 5-10% of people under the age of 19 have drug problems which require clinical treatment (Carr A., 1999; Nikolić D., 1998) When observed through different temporal and cultural perspectives, risk behaviour has always been an integral part of the student population; however, lately we have witnessed its significant expansion along the lines of contemporary social trends, while countries in the process of transition typically exhibit declining social control and the establishment of a new system of values, which are all factors contributing to the spread of risk behaviour patterns among the student population. Addictions, which include drug addiction, are a mass, chronic, non-contagious disease of a pandemic character. They are often called behaviour diseases, and are often a part of a social pathology with inevitable consequences to the health. This disease has its specifics in its etiopathogenesis, geographical distribution, manifestations, clinical forms, treatment, etc. The most frequent manifestations of this disease are often not limited to just using drugs, but often encompass abusing several harmful agents (alcohol + smoking, drugs + alcohol + smoking, pills + smoking, pills + alcohol...), so one could rightly conclude an ever increasing presence of polytoxicomania (Nikolić D., 1998). Regardless of whether we are talking about individual or combined addiction diseases, the characteristics they share are the following: ● they appear under the influence of the environment;