*Corresponding Author Address: Dr. Somia Gul, Associate Professor, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jinnah University for Women, 74600 Karachi, Pakistan; E-mail: drsomi1983@yahoo.com World Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences ISSN (Print): 2321-3310; ISSN (Online): 2321-3086 Published by Atom and Cell Publishers © All Rights Reserved Available online at: http://www.wjpsonline.com/ Research Article Pharmacophilia: Prevalence and trends in our community Tazeen Husain, Hafiza Fouzia Ahmed, Madiha Maboos, Somia Gul Faculty of Pharmacy, Jinnah University for Women, 74600 Karachi, Pakistan Received: 23-02-2014 / Revised: 03-03-2014 / Accepted: 18-03-2014 ABSTRACT Pharmacophilia is affection for taking medications with or without need, basically taking drugs like hallucinogens, anti-depressants, analgesics, anti-allergics, cough preparation and alcohols. The aim of this study is to identify and analyze the factors that influence attitude of our community to take medicines frequently and unnecessarily. Study was conducted on 104 participants and they were classed as Pharmacophilia according to the attitude and compared with regarding to socio-demographic variables, clinical characteristics, gender, age- group, and education. Finally results were evaluated statistically and compared with retrospective data. Appraisal of the study shows that with respect to gender, males tended to be less Pharmacophilia (59.4%) than females (75%). As far as age was concerned 45.71% of adults, 23.07% teenagers and 75% geriatrics claimed to be Pharmacophilia. As for the education level 18.75% graduates, 44.44% intermediate-pass and 66.67% matriculation-pass were Pharmacophilia. As the level of education declined, the number of people answering positively to Pharmacophilia was seen to increase. Most of the individuals admitted to taking medicines for the purpose of relaxing themselves. Additionally, anti-hypertensive drugs were used by 19.01%, analgesics were used by 68.57% and anti-depressants by78.8%. 54.40% took medicines on daily basis, 16.21% on weekly basis, 1.34% on monthly basis and 27.03% took more than one times daily. 51.42% claimed that being Pharmacophilia brought a negative change in their life. Trend showed that mostly drug used by Pharmacophilia individuals belongs to anti-depressants for relaxation and it is recommended to conduct awareness programs for the control of drug misuse. Key words: Pharmacophilia, Hallucinogens, Socio-demographic, Retrospective. INTRODUCTION Pharmacophilia is defined as a morbid fascination for taking drugsit is also called pharmacomania, [1] and is closely related to drug abuse and addiction. The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) defines any illicit use of a substance as drug abuse; this includes the non-medical use of prescription drugs. NIDA defines addiction as a chronic, relapsing disease characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use despite harmful consequences as well as neurochemical and molecular changes in the brain. [2] A pharmacophile may desire drugs like ayahuasca [3] (drugs that cause hallucinations), anti- depressants or caffeinated drugs such as antihistamines. WHO states that there are several reasons of being pharmacophilic, such as: lack of information about rational use of drug, improper or incomplete knowledge given by physician, incomplete counseling by pharmacist. [4] The possible consequences of pharmacophilic behavior are adverse effects and building up of tolerance to the ingredients. In 2003, Croghan et al studied American attitudes toward psychiatric medication and their willingness to use them. Most respondents agreed that psychiatric medicines were effective but were not willing to take them even when advised to do so by a doctor. Compliance was influenced by factors including health status and past use of treatments. [5] Townsend and friends studied the viewpoint of adolescents toward psychiatric medication. They also evaluated the effectiveness of Hogan’s Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI) for assessing the same [6]. Past research indicates that adolescent compliance ranges from 10-80% depending on population and drug evaluated. While the DAI had been successfully used to predict adherence to regimen in adults, Townsend et al were the first to use it on a population of adolescents. They found that the results were only “fair” fit to the adolescent data, possibly because the DAI do not adequately reflect adolescent experiences with medications. They suggested potential alterations that could make the