Diverted prescription drug use and abuse among veterans returning to the inner city

This paper presents an analysis of prescription drug use while soldiers are on active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and illegal use after returning to civilian life. Many soldiers are given prescription drugs while deployed to treat pain, sleep disorders, and anxiety, and little is known about their drug use and related health problems after they return home. The authors report on a five-year study of 300 veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to New York's inner city, focusing on the complex inter-connected problems associated with veterans' mental health, substance use/abuse, and reintegration into family, work and community life. Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) was used so that statistical estimates can be projected to the larger target population of interest. This paper examines the frequency of legitimate use of drugs as well as unregulated use for recreation or to maintain a habit, focusing on diversion of prescription drugs after returning to civilian life and its association with dependence, abuse and other serious mental health problems. Data are from the first phase of the study (N=300). The extended study will document the progress of these problems, techniques and resources used to cope, and the participants' subsequent successes or persistent challenges, which we speculate on in the discussion.