Psychoactive Substance Use Among Individuals With Chronic Spinal Cord Injury: Patterns and Characteristics

•Nearly one-quarter of spinal cord injury participants reported using at least 1 psychoactive substance without a prescription.•Cannabis is the most frequently used psychoactive substance in those with spinal cord injury. To identify the patterns of nonprescription psychoactive substance (PAS) use among persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) and the relationships with demographic and injury characteristics. Cross-sectional, self-report assessment (SRA). A medical university in the southeastern United States. The participants (N=4670) were identified through a specialty hospital and 2 state-based surveillance registries. Not applicable. Participants completed SRAs and reported the past 3 months’ use of the following substances for which they did not have a prescription: cannabis, cocaine, amphetamine-type stimulants, inhalants, sedatives/hypnotics and sleeping pills, hallucinogens, and opioids. PAS use was grouped into 4 categories: none, cannabis use only, use of cannabis and other PAS, and use of other PAS only. Of the 4577 participants who responded to the PAS use questions, 24.1% reported using at least 1 PAS without a prescription. Cannabis was the most frequently reported substance (16.4%), followed by sedatives or sleeping pills (8.0%). By PAS use group, 12.1% reported use of cannabis use only, followed by use of other PAS only (7.7%) and use of cannabis and other PAS (4.3%). There were significant differences among the groups of use by nearly all personal characteristics. The use of nonprescription PASs is prevalent among adults with chronic SCI, and there are clear differences in patterns and characteristics of use.