dopetalk does not endorse any advertised product nor does it accept any liability for it's use or misuse

This website has run out of funding so feel free to contribute if you can afford it (see footer)

Author Topic: COVID-19 Pandemic Results in Increased Substance Use Among Regular Drug Users  (Read 2682 times)

Offline Chip (OP)

  • Server Admin
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Join Date: Dec 2014
  • Location: Australia
  • Posts: 6648
  • Reputation Power: 0
  • Chip has hidden their reputation power
  • Gender: Male
  • Last Login:Yesterday at 05:53:23 PM
  • Deeply Confused Learner
  • Profession: IT Engineer
source: https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/covid-19-pandemic-results-in-increased-substance-use-among-regular-drug-users

COVID-19 Pandemic Results in Increased Substance Use Among Regular Drug Users

April 28, 2021

Sudden disruptions in the supply of street drugs when the COVID-19 pandemic began were associated with an increase in overdose deaths and other harms.

Individuals who regularly use psychoactive substances report experiencing various negative impacts since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, including increased usage and fear of relapse or overdose, according to a survey published in the International Journal of Drug Policy.

“People who use drugs have been negatively impacted by the pandemic in ways that put them at greater risk for experiencing substance and health-related harms, including overdoses and a decreased ability to mitigate risk behaviors,” said lead study author Dr. Farihah Ali in a press release. “These findings warrant the need for increased accessibility of safe supply programs, take-home naloxone and drug-testing kits, as well as novel approaches to help ensure they have the necessary tools available to make informed choices and mitigate risk.”

Forty-seven percent of respondents indicated their substance use had increased during COVID-19, and 38% said they believed they were at higher risk of overdose due to supply disruptions that made drugs more expensive, harder to get, and of unknown origin. Among those using syringes or other paraphernalia, 47% responded that they started re-using or sharing for the first time after the beginning of the pandemic due to COVID-19-related restrictions decreasing access to harm reduction or needle exchange programs.

Seven percent of survey respondents indicated they had relapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“One of the potential factors in relapse is all the time spent alone and isolated with all the pandemic restrictions,” said Tara Elton-Marshall, PhD, independent scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, in the release. “Using alone itself was a real concern. We know that people who use alone are more likely to die of an overdose, in part because there is nobody there to administer naloxone or call emergency services.”

The researchers said that sudden disruptions in the supply of street drugs when the pandemic began were associated with an increase in overdose deaths and other harms. In British Columbia, where the survey was conducted, the number of illicit drug overdose deaths increased by 72% during the first 4 months of the pandemic compared to the previous year.

“We need everything from good treatment and harm reduction measures to realizing that we are in an environment where everything is different during COVID and we need different solutions,” said Jürgen Rehm, PhD, in the release. “We need to consider now how to decriminalize drug use. This survey lends strong support for the need for an integrated drug policy strategy including harm reduction.”

REFERENCE

Large numbers of regular drug users report increased substance use during COVID-19 [news release]. EurekAlert; April 20, 2021. Accessed April 22, 2021. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-04/cfaa-lno042021.php

Following on ...

What Pharmacists Should Know About Drug Diversion
friendly
0
funny
0
informative
0
agree
0
disagree
0
like
0
dislike
0
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
Our Discord Server invitation link is https://discord.gg/jB2qmRrxyD

Tags:
 

Related Topics

  Subject / Started by Replies Last post
1 Replies
116 Views
Last post June 12, 2021, 12:16:14 PM
by Chip
0 Replies
4656 Views
Last post August 24, 2015, 10:09:19 PM
by Chip
0 Replies
474 Views
Last post January 18, 2016, 11:50:33 AM
by Z
0 Replies
2327 Views
Last post October 05, 2017, 10:07:28 AM
by Chip
0 Replies
3638 Views
Last post June 18, 2018, 07:13:24 PM
by Chip
0 Replies
3191 Views
Last post July 09, 2019, 04:59:12 AM
by Chip
0 Replies
4115 Views
Last post September 04, 2019, 01:02:13 AM
by Chip
0 Replies
3181 Views
Last post October 23, 2019, 11:51:36 AM
by Chip
0 Replies
4390 Views
Last post March 26, 2020, 02:09:40 PM
by Chip
0 Replies
4982 Views
Last post March 28, 2020, 06:17:41 AM
by Chip


dopetalk does not endorse any advertised product nor does it accept any liability for it's use or misuse





TERMS AND CONDITIONS

In no event will d&u or any person involved in creating, producing, or distributing site information be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, special or consequential damages arising out of the use of or inability to use d&u. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless d&u, its domain founders, sponsors, maintainers, server administrators, volunteers and contributors from and against all liability, claims, damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from the use of any part of the d&u site.


TO USE THIS WEBSITE YOU MUST AGREE TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS ABOVE


Founded December 2014
SimplePortal 2.3.6 © 2008-2014, SimplePortal