---

Introduction: Commonly, the origin of drug use in adults comes from youth. This is one of the most important social problems that not only endanger the public health but it also lead to moral and ethical decay of individuals. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of psychoactive substances use and its risk factors in Shiraz University and Shiraz University of Med-ical Sciences. Materials & Methods: In the descriptive- analytical study, 640 students from the schools of Shiraz University and Shiraz University of Medical Sciences were selected based on a random cluster sampling method. Data were collected by self-completion anonymous questionnaires. After data collection, analysis was performed using SPSS software. Findings: The rate of psychoactive subst-ances use among the students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences and Shiraz University were 10.8% and 9.2%, resp-ectively, that their difference was not significant (p = 0.498). The rate of psy-choactive substances use among men was more than of women (25% vs. 19%) and the history of use was more in married students than the single ones (19.5% vs. 8.7%). The students of Shiraz University versus Shiraz University of Medical Sciences used more alcohol (17.7% vs. 9.4%), drugs (9.8% vs. 3.3%) and smoking (21.5% vs. 17.5%) and these differences were statistically significant. Discussion & Conclusion: This study indicated the necessity of planning and preventive interventional strategies to reduce drug use among students and thereupon promoting their health.

---

Introduction: Today, ecstasy abuse has been extended. Also, the substance has an easy access that increases their damaging effects. Therefore, this study aimed to de-termine the knowledge and attitude of students about ecstasy and its com-plications. Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectio-nal study, 254 undergraduate students were selected by random sampling in the health and architecture schools of Shahid Beheshti University. Data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire with high reliability and validity that included four sections demographic, knowledge about ecstasy attitudes and behavior toward ecs-tasy. The questionnaire was completed by the students under study. The data were analyzed using SPSS 16 and statistical tests, T-test and ANOVA. Findings: Participants in this study were 116 (45.65%) male and 138 (54.35%) fem-ale students. 122 (48.5%) students were fro-m the school of health, and 132 (51.95%) were from the school of architecture. 95% of students had used ecstasy and 79% stated that they need to attend in courses related to ecstasy and its complications. 62 % tended to participate in workshops. About 50.4% of the students had a moderate level of knowledge, and about 67.3% of them had a good attitude. Also, knowledge and attitude had not significant associations with disc-ipline, gender and place of residence (p>0.05). There was no significant assoc-iation between knowledge and marital status, but there was a significant relation-nship between positive attitudes toward effects of ecstasy and marital status (p=0.0001). Discussion & Conclusion: According to the findings, the students' knowledge and their positive attitudes towards effects of ecstasy were not desirable and appropriate. It is suggested that the finding of the study will be used to provide effective education programs and to promote the knowledge and attitude of students.