1. Lisbon Addictions 2017 structured session 14 Lisbon, 24 – 26 october 2017
Prevalence of Alcohol,
Tobacco and drug use
among school aged children in Algeria
Legal, social and economic aspects
that impact on prevalence
Salah ABDENNOURI
Former Director General at interim of the "Office national de lutte contre la drogue et la toxicomanie"
Pompidou Group consultant

2. Drug prevalence use Data source: MedSPAD Algeria, 2016
Drug prevalence use Data source: MedSPAD Algeria, Total population in 2017: 41 millions Students enrolled: 8,5 millions Sampling frame: Sample size: age group: 16 years old
Drug
Life time %
Last year %
Last month %
Tobacco 22 12
8,5
Cannabis
5,5
3,5
2,5
Alcohol 5
1,3
medication without MP*
2,2
1,5
* MP: Medical Prescription

3. Two comments I. The substances prevalence use order
- In Algeria: Tobacco, cannabis, Alcohol, medication (without MP)
- in the northern countries of the Mediterranean sea :
Alcohol, Tobacco, Cannabis, medication (without MP).
II. Comparative analysis
life time substances use (%)
AGERIA SC NC
Alcohol
4,9
9,1
84,4
Tobacco
22,1 11
42,9
Cannabis
5,4
2,4
17,7
Medication without MP
3,4
1,4
5,3
SC: southern countries NC: northern countries

4. Legal aspects that impact on prevalence
Two sources of prohibition: law and religion
. The Law punishes the detention or the consumption of drug with imprisonnment from 2 months to 2 years, in addition to a fine
. Islam prohibits the consumption of alcohol and all other drugs
At least 57,9 % of substances users (cannabis, medication without MP and alcohol) declared that they were aware that the law porohibits the use of these products.
Respondents %
Consumers %
cannabis
70,5 76
medication without MP 66
60,2
alcohol 50
57,9

5. Social aspects that impact on prevalence.
To determine the influence of different factors on drug use, we used logistic regression.
The possibility of using drugs last 12 months is higher when:
friends consume
the pupil’s average is low ( < 5/20 )
members of the family consume
the consumption by boys is higher than by girls (gender)
for example : the alcohol
. Boys use alcohol 34 times more than girls
. 37,5 times more if their friends use it
. 34,5 times more if their average is low (< 5/20 )
Influence of family structure
The possibility of using drugs is the highest when pupils live with other family members but without the father and the mother.
Prevalence use during the last year in this case is:
5,5 % cannabis, 3,4 % medication without MP and 4,4 % alcohol.

6. Social background (residence)
Cannabis: Prevalence use is double in urban than in rural areas.
Medication without MP: The urban population consume three times more than the rural ones (2,2 % vs 0,7 %)
Gender: a determining factor
Cannabis: boys use cannabis 27 times more than girls (5,5 % and 0,2 %)
Alcohol: boys consume alcohol 13 times more than girls
Medication without MP: boys consume 6 times more than girls

7. Prevalence use based on the existance or absence of friends or family members who consume substances
As showed, the prevalence use is significantly higher when you have friends or family members who consume substances

8. Thanks Economic aspects that impact on prevalence
Prévalence use according to the declared standard of living of the family
As it is showed in the graph, the prevalence use is higher when the economic level of the family is low.
Thanks