scholarly journals COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Substance Misuse: A Social Media Listening, Mixed Method Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 907
Author(s):  
Davide Arillotta ◽  
Amira Guirguis ◽  
John Martin Corkery ◽  
Norbert Scherbaum ◽  
Fabrizio Schifano
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Psychotropic Substances ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Drug Use Patterns ◽  
Restrictive Measures

The restrictive measures adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic modified some previously consolidated drug use patterns. A focus on social networks allowed drug users to discuss, share opinions and provide advice during a worldwide emergency context. In order to explore COVID-19-related implications on drug trends/behaviour and on most popular psychotropic substances debated, the focus here was on the constantly updated, very popular, Reddit social platform’s posts and comments. A quantitative and qualitative analysis of r/Drugs and related subreddits, using a social media listening netnographic approach, was carried out. The post/comments analysed covered the time-frame December 2019–May 2020. Between December 2019 and May 2020, the number of whole r/Drugs subreddit members increased from 619,563 to 676,581 members, respectively, thus increasing by 9.2% by the end of the data collection. Both the top-level r/Drugs subreddit and 92 related subreddits were quantitatively analysed, with posts/comments related to 12 drug categories. The drugs most frequently commented on included cannabinoids, psychedelics, opiates/opioids, alcohol, stimulants and prescribed medications. The qualitative analysis was carried out focussing on four subreddits, relating to some 1685 posts and 3263 comments. Four main themes of discussion (e.g., lockdown-associated immunity and drug intake issues; drug-related behaviour/after-quarantine plans’ issues; lockdown-related psychopathological issues; and peer-to-peer advice at the time of COVID-19) and four categories of Redditors (e.g., those continuing the use of drugs despite the pandemic; the “couch epidemiologists”; the conspirationists/pseudo-science influencers; and the recovery-focused users) were tentatively identified here. A mixed-methods, social network-based analysis provided a range of valuable information on Redditors’ drug use/behaviour during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Further studies should be carried out focusing on other social networks as well as later phases of the pandemic.

Patterns of Substance use in an Immgrant Population in Spain

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
A. Qureshi ◽  
N. Rutow ◽  
C. Visiers ◽  
E. Pedrini ◽  
H.W. Revollo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Service Access ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Drug Use Patterns ◽  
Migratory Process

Aims:The relationship between immigration and drug abuse and its treatment is complex and poorly understood. The objective of this study is to gain insight into patterns of drug use and service access and how they are influenced by social factors and the migratory process in a population of foreign born drug users in Barcelona, Spain.Methods:An interview protocol was developed for the study which examined drug use patterns, social and health factors, and treatment, and was administered to 118 foreign born users in harm reduction centers. 92% were male and 8% were female. 42% were from Eastern Europe, 35% were from the Magreb, 14% from the European Community, 6% from Subsaharan Africa and 3% from Latin America.Results:With migration opium use decreased whereas cocaine, heroin, and speedball increased, which also constitute the primary drug used by this sample. Social support was correlated with greater consumption of heroin, cocaine, and alcohol, whereas lower social stress was predictive of higher cannabis use. Hard drug use was predicted by illegal status and a lack of stable housing. Acculturation and acclturative stress were not found to be related to substance use. Treatment was positively evaluated, with no perception of lower quality of care.Discussion:Drug use patterns shift with the migratory process, and, it would appear, adapt to the dominant local ones. The unexpecting findings regarding social factors and acculturation and acculturative stress may indicate differences in the Spanish drug use context, and as such warrant further research.

Religious Correlates of Teenage Drug Use

1975 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin F. McLuckie ◽  
Margaret Zahn ◽  
Robert A. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
School Attendance ◽  
Parochial School ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Mixed Support ◽  
Drug Use Patterns ◽  
The One ◽  
Relationship Of

This paper analyzes the relationship of religiosity and patterns of drug use among students in the seventh through the twelfth grades. Data were collected in a statewide questionnaire survey of more than 30,000 students. Hypotheses regarding the constraining influence of religion on drug use patterns received mixed support. On the one hand religiosity as measured by affiliation and by parochial school attendance did not uniformly constrain drug use. For example, while Catholics and Protestants were relatively low in current use, Jewish teenagers had the highest rate with nonaffiliates the second highest. Extent of involvement in religion (as measured by frequency of attendance), on the other hand, did seem constraining since nonattenders were more than twice as likely to be drug users as were regular weekly attenders. Data on these teenagers' evaluation of drug information sources is also presented. Here it was found that drug users tend to trust traditional sources of Information less than do nonusers and trust those with personal drug experience more than do nonusers. All students, however, whether drug users or not, tended to value information from those presumed to have technical knowledge about drugs, i.e., physicians and medical school professors. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are also explored.

scholarly journals Incarceration and drug use patterns among a cohort of injection drug users

Addiction ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kora DeBeck ◽  
Thomas Kerr ◽  
Kathy Li ◽  
M.-J. Milloy ◽  
Julio Montaner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Injection Drug Users ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Injection Drug ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Drug Use Patterns

Differences in drug use patterns and HCV among African-American adult drug users

2014 ◽  
Vol 140 ◽  
pp. e242
Author(s):  
Nicole E. Whitehead ◽  
Larry Keen ◽  
R. Trenz ◽  
J. Rose ◽  
W.W. Latimer
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
African American Adult ◽  
American Adult ◽  
Drug Use Patterns

scholarly journals 20 years of Portuguese drug policy - developments, challenges and the quest for human rights

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ximene RÊGO ◽  
Maria João OLIVEIRA ◽  
Catarina LAMEIRA ◽  
Olga S. CRUZ
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug Policy ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Local Data ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Policy Model ◽  
The Public ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Drug Use Patterns

AbstractPortugal decriminalized the public and private use, acquisition, and possession of all drugs in 2000; adopting an approach focused on public health rather than public-order priorities. Arguing that the Portuguese Drug Policy Model has not proven influential enough to emancipate drug use from the stigma that associates it either with crime or pathology, this article critically discusses the developments and current challenges the Portuguese drug policy confronts, namely the growing diversity of drug use patterns observed in Portugal as well as in Europe. To this end, international and national legal instruments concerning drugs and official local data were analysed. Despite encouraging results, conclusions indicate that these policies are marked by contradictions and ambiguities that have permeated its history since the very beginning, and modest ambitions, particularly regarding the implementation of harm reduction measures. Moreover, the polemical Supreme Court judgment that reestablished, in 2008, drug use as a crime when the quantities at play exceeded those required for an average individual’s use for 10 days, might have impacted the landscape of drug use penalization. The last decade saw an increase of punitiveness targeted at drug users, including criminal sentences of jail terms. We finish with some suggestions that could be employed in the practical application of drug policy.

Injection Drug Users in the Midwest: An Epidemiologic Comparison of Drug Use Patterns in Four Ohio Cities

1994 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harvey A. Siegal ◽  
Robert G. Carlson ◽  
Jichuan Wang ◽  
Russel S. Falck ◽  
Richard C. Stephens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Injection Drug Users ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Injection Drug ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Drug Use Patterns

Dermatologic Manifestations of Underlying Infectious Disease among Illicit Injection-Drug Users

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Blondin ◽  
Richard I. Crawford ◽  
Thomas Kerr ◽  
Ruth Zhang ◽  
Mark W. Tyndall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Hiv Infection ◽  
Injection Drug Users ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Oral Lesions ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Drug Use Patterns ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Dermatologic Manifestations ◽  
Bloodborne Infections

Background: Drug use patterns and serious bloodborne infections commonly have dermatologic manifestations among illicit injection-drug users (IDUs). Objective: To assess how self-reported skin conditions of IDUs may correlate with underlying infectious diseases after adjustment for drug use patterns. Methods: Prospective analysis of factors associated with self-reports of skin rashes, cellulitis, oral lesions, and lymphadenopathy obtained from 1,065 IDUs enrolled in a large cohort study. Variables potentially associated with each outcome were evaluated using multivariate generalized estimating equations. Results: In multivariate analyses, drug use patterns were associated with cellulitis, whereas human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and hepatitis C (HCV) were not. HCV infection was independently associated with skin rashes (odds ratio [OR] 1.85; 95% Cl 1.17–2.94). HIV infection was independently associated with lymphadenopathy (OR 2.00; 95% CI 1.52–2.63), skin rash (OR 2.12; 95% CI 1.57–2.86), and oral lesions (OR 14.95; 95% CI 9.41–23.76). Conclusions: Self-reports of IDUs, which could easily be obtained as part of a functional inquiry in a clinical setting, correlate with specific drug use patterns and underlying bloodborne infections.

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