Poisoning Emergencies

Substance Use and Misuse

Substance use is the use of substances, such as drugs, alcohol, tobacco / nicotine, alcohol, or cannabis. People use substances for different reasons, and they can have benefits to health and/or enhance social or spiritual well-being in certain circumstances.

When the use of substances leads to negative consequences for the individual, family, friends, or society, this becomes substance misuse.  Substance misuse can be understood in a spectrum, ranging from lower risk use to high-risk substance dependency. It can also lead to accidental poisonings.