Novel psychoactive substance use among treatment-seeking opiate users: The role of life events and psychiatric symptoms.

Objective: Over the past 5 years, a shift to the use of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) has been observed among opioid users. The aim of this study was to assess the potential reasons for NPS use among treatment-seeking patients receiving opiate substitution therapy.

Method: A structured questionnaire was filled out by a sample of 198 opiate dependent patients of Hungary's National Institute of Psychiatry and Addiction.