Akbar Zare Shahabadi - School of Social Sciences, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran
Zakieh Soleimani - School of Social Sciences, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

Background: Addiction is a serious threat to the health of a community,such that treatment costs and the likelihood of its high recurrencenecessitate a turning point in the areas of prevention. Considering the roleof public places in shaping the motives and beliefs of individuals, thisresearch was conducted with the aim of studying the role of these places increating a tendency toward addiction in Yazd.Methods: Cross-sectional method was employed in this research and thestatistical population consisted of citizens aged 15 - 50 years old in Yazd ofwhich, 400 samples were selected by multistage cluster sampling and theywere studied using a self-made questionnaire.Results: The findings unveiled that there is a direct and significantrelationship between the use of public places and the tendency to addictionand the highest percentage of drug distribution in parks was observed by35.8% of respondents. Similarly, 19% in cafes, 9.3% in coffee shops, 6.5%in gyms and 4.1% in hairdressers observed drug distribution. Locationswith less damage were government-licensed and located on main streets.Also, there was a significant relationship between the family s supervisionof the children s travel and the unreliable trust of visitors to these placeswith tendency toward drug use.Conclusion: Identification of unlicensed personal service centers andoutlying sites, monitoring smoking and drug use in parks and cafes andapplying age restrictions and regulations in entry to these places, whi lepaying attention to the companionship of families with their offspring areeffective strategies to reduce the tendency toward addiction.

Addiction, Public Places, Tendency, Drugs, Cafe, Yazd