Availability of Illegal Drugs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Western Germany

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Gerhard Reymann¹  Udo Schneider²  Jo Shibata³  Torsten Grigoleit⁴  Norbert Scherbaum⁵  Michael Specka⁵  Henning Hafermann⁵  Jens Kuhn⁶  Stefan Bender⁷  Peter Nyhuis⁹  Udo Bonnet^1,10  Fabrizio Schifano^1,11  Ulrich W. Preuss^1,12 

[1] 0Suchtmedizin, LWL-Klinik Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany;1Medizinisches Zentrum für Seelische Gesundheit, Krankenhaus Lübbecke-Rahden, Lübbecke, Germany;2Substitution Outpatient Clinic, Health Department of the City of Cologne, Cologne, Germany;Abteilung für Abhängigkeitserkrankungen, LVR-Klinik Langenfeld, Langenfeld, Germany;Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, LVR-Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany;Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany;Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, LWL-Klinik Marsberg, Marsberg, Germany;Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychotherapie und Psychosomatik, Johanniter Krankenhaus Oberhausen, Oberhausen, Germany;Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychotherapie und Psychosomatik, St. Marien Hospital Eickel, Herne, Germany;Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychotherapie und Psychosomatische Medizin, Evangelisches Krankenhaus Castrop-Rauxel, Castrop-Rauxel, Germany;Psychopharmacology, Substance Misuse and Novel Psychoactive Substances Research Unit, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom;Vitos-Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Herborn, Germany;

关键词: COVID-19;    drug availability;    cocaine;    heroin;    cannabis;    novel synthetic opioids;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyt.2021.648273

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Background: In response to the COVID-19-pandemic, a lockdown was established in the middle of March 2020 by the German Federal Government resulting in drastic reduction of private and professional traveling in and out of Germany with a reduction of social contacts in public areas.Research Questions: We seek evidence on whether the lockdown has led to a reduced availability of illegal drugs and whether subjects with substance-related problems tried to cope with possible drug availability issues by increasingly obtaining drugs via the internet, replacing their preferred illegal drug with novel psychoactive substances, including new synthetic opioids (NSO), and/or by seeking drug treatment.Methods: A questionnaire was anonymously filled in by subjects with substance-related disorders, typically attending low-threshold settings, drug consumption facilities, and inpatient detoxification wards from a range of locations in the Western part of Germany. Participants had to both identify their main drug of abuse and to answer questions regarding its availability, price, quality, and routes of acquisition.Results: Data were obtained from 362 participants. The most frequent main substances of abuse were cannabis (n = 109), heroin (n = 103), and cocaine (n = 75). A minority of participants reported decreased availability (8.4%), increased price (14.4%), or decreased quality (28.3%) of their main drug. About 81% reported no change in their drug consumption due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown. A shift to the use of novel psychoactive substances including NSO were reported only by single subjects. Only 1–2% of the participants obtained their main drug via the web.Discussion: Present findings may suggest that recent pandemic-related imposed restrictions may have not been able to substantially influence either acquisition or consumption of drugs within the context of polydrug users (including opiates) attending a range of addiction services in Germany.

【 授权许可】

Unknown