Sports activities in the prevention of heroin dependency

The aim of this study was to find out more about the role played by sports activities in the prevention of illicit drug abuse. We administered a simple questionnaire to a group of 215 patients with heroin dependency. Their average age was 23 years (SD = 4.3, range 15-42); 163 (76%) of them were males and 52 (24%) females. Another group was formed by 231 student adolescents with a mean age of 15 years (SD = 1.0, range 14-18); 65 (28%) were males and 166 (72%) were females. One hundred and sixty-one (75%) of the heroin users and 169 (69%) of the students took part in regular physical training (at least two times weekly in a sport club) and competitive sports activities until the age of 15. Due to the fact that there was a statistically significant difference in the male/female ratio between the two groups, the comparison of males and females was done separately. There were no statistically significant differences between the males, nor between the females from these two groups in their histories of sports activities until the age of 15. Thirty-one (17%) of the patients started with illicit drug use prior to the termination of their sports activities.