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The following long\u2010term studies were conducted: (a) a retrospective autopsy cohort study on autopsy incidents with available toxicological screening results (<jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\u00a0=\u00a0482) in investigation of any possible forensic associations of exposure to illicit drugs; and (b) a cross\u2010sectional study on a sample of arrested drug law offenders with available toxicological screening results (<jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\u00a0=\u00a0195) as well as cluster analysis in order to possibly identify user profiles. Although outside the scope of the present study, ethanol was generally considered to be the main substance of abuse, as more than half of the premature deaths reported tested positive on the ethanol toxicology screen. Cannabis and opioid use was associated with unintentional causes of death, while an association of deliberate self\u2010harm was noted with opioid and benzodiazepine use. Both cannabis and opioid use correlated with significantly younger ages (more than a decade) of premature death. Most frequently, an onset of substance use was reported in the early 20s with cannabis use. Although 65.3% of the subjects were diagnosed as dependent and unable to eliminate substance use on their own, only 7.7% of the subjects in the users\u2019 population had ever accessed appropriate support through rehabilitation programs.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/1556-4029.14776","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,15]],"date-time":"2021-06-15T11:44:56Z","timestamp":1623757496000},"page":"1841-1854","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Investigation of patterns and dynamics of substance users: A long\u2010term toxicology study on a sample of the Greek population between 2005 and 2019"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"66","author":[{"given":"Maria\u2010Valeria","family":"Karakasi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Forensic Sciences Democritus University of Thrace \u2010 School of Medicine Alexandroupolis Greece"},{"name":"Third University Department of Psychiatry AHEPA University General Hospital \u2013 Department of Mental Health Aristotle University \u2010 Faculty of Medicine Thessaloniki Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dimitrios\u2010Phaedon","family":"Kevrekidis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Forensic Sciences Democritus University of Thrace \u2010 School of Medicine Alexandroupolis Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Polichronis","family":"Voultsos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Forensic Medicine &amp; Toxicology Faculty of Medicine Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Thessaloniki Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Grigorios","family":"Trypsiannis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Medical Statistics Democritus University of Thrace \u2010 School of Medicine Alexandroupolis Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vangelis G.","family":"Manolopoulos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Pharmacology Democritus University of Thrace \u2010 School of Medicine Alexandroupolis Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nikolaos","family":"Raikos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Forensic Medicine &amp; Toxicology Faculty of Medicine Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Thessaloniki Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7628-8907","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pavlos","family":"Pavlidis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Forensic Sciences Democritus University of Thrace \u2010 School of Medicine Alexandroupolis Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_7_2_1","volume-title":"Dependence syndrome","author":"World Health Organization (WHO)","year":"2021"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(07)60464-4"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_4_1","volume-title":"Drugs in syringes from six European cities: Results from the ESCAPE project 2017","author":"European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)","year":"2019"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_5_1","volume-title":"World drug report","author":"United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)","year":"2015"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_6_1","volume-title":"Annual report on the state of the drugs problem in Europe","author":"European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)","year":"2011"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_7_1","volume-title":"Mortality among drug users in Europe: new and old challenges for public health","author":"European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)","year":"2015"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_8_1","volume-title":"Law 4139\/2013: Law on addictive substances and other provisions","author":"Greek Penal Code","year":"2013"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_9_1","first-page":"5","volume-title":"Statistical methods in cancer research. 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