Women and Drugs: The Heroin Abuser and the Prescription Drug Abuser

Abstract

The literature on female drug use/abuse was reviewed and descriptions of the female heroin abuser and the female prescription drug abuser were derived. The female heroin abuser has been characterized as a lower socioeconomic status woman with low self-esteem, the product of a disrupted, unstable childhood. Her lifestyle, in addition to heroin abuse, probably includes petty crime and prostitution. The prescription drug abuser, on the other hand, is likely to be a middle class woman who has legal access to drugs through her physician. Her drug use is socially sanctioned and tied to cultural sex role stereotypes. Researchers suggest that problems of female drug abusers should be viewed in terms of the feminine role as well as the role of drug abuser. Descriptive research dominates the literature on female drug abuse. The need for more theoretical studies is emphasized and locus of control, attribution, and social support research topics are suggested.