ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2021
Shifts in drug seizures in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- The changing contribution of fentanyl use to non-fatal overdose among a cohort of people who inject drugs in San Diego, California: A longitudinal assessment.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2026Article
- Global burden of amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine and opioid use in 204 countries, 1990-2023: a Global Burden of Disease Study.Nature medicine · 2026Article
- Trends in nonmedical ketamine use, poisonings, related deaths, pharmaceutical diversions, and law enforcement seizures: results from annual population-based repeated cross-sectional studies.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2025Article
- Monitoring illicit pentobarbital availability in the United States: A National Drug Early Warning System briefing.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2024Article
- Law enforcement fentanyl seizures and overdose mortality in US counties, 2013-2020.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2024Article
- Article
- The Impact of Raising Alcohol Taxes on Government Tax Revenue: Insights from Five European Countries.Applied health economics and health policy · 2024Article
- National and regional trends in seizures of shrooms (psilocybin) in the United States, 2017-2022.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2024Article
- Longitudinal changes in co-involved drugs, comorbidities, and demographics of methamphetamine-related deaths in Los Angeles County.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2023Observational
- Drug consumption in German cities and municipalities during the COVID-19 lockdown: a wastewater analysis.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2023Article
- Disruption to Australian heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy markets with the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions.The International journal on drug policy · 2023Article
- Association of polysubstance use disorder with treatment quality among Medicaid beneficiaries with opioid use disorder.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2023Article
- Opioid Overdoses Increase at Home During the COVID-19 Stay-At-Home Order Period in Cook County, Illinois.AJPM focus · 2022Article
- Tactile Stimulation in Adult Rats Modulates Dopaminergic Molecular Parameters in the Nucleus accumbens Preventing Amphetamine Relapse.Molecular neurobiology · 2022Article
- Stimulant misuse among youth.Current problems in pediatric and adolescent health care · 2022Review
- Toxicological Analysis of Illicit Drugs Seized in Naples (Italy) and First Detection of Synthetic Cannabinoids during COVID-19 Pandemic.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Illicit Substance Use and the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States: A Scoping Review and Characterization of Research Evidence in Unprecedented Times.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Temporal monitoring of stimulants during the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium through the analysis of influent wastewater.The International journal on drug policy · 2022Article
- Trends in seizures of powders and pills containing illicit fentanyl in the United States, 2018 through 2021.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2022Article
- Changes in cannabis use and associated correlates during France's first COVID-19 lockdown in daily cannabis users: results from a large community-based online survey.Harm reduction journal · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLittle is known regarding how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected patterns of drug use in the United States. Because drug seizures can serve as a proxy for drug availability, we examined shifts in drug seizures in the US during the pandemic.
methodsWe examined trends in seizures of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl within five High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas-Washington/Baltimore, Chicago, Ohio, New Mexico, and North Florida. Trends were examined for number and total weight of seizures from March 2019 through September 2020 using Joinpoint regression.
resultsSignificant decreases in seizures involving marijuana (β = -0.03, P = 0.005) and methamphetamine (β = -0.02, P = 0.026) were detected through April 2020, and then seizures of marijuana (β = 0.10, P = 0.028) and methamphetamine (β = 0.11, P = 0.010) significantly increased through September 2020. The number of seizures involving marijuana and methamphetamine peaked in August 2020, exceeding the highest pre-COVID-19 number of seizures. Fentanyl seizures increased overall (β = 0.05, P < .001), but did not significantly drop during the start of COVID-19, and significant changes were not detected for cocaine or heroin. We also detected a significant increase in weight of marijuana seized from April through September 2020 (β = 0.40, P = .001). The weight of marijuana seized in August 2020 exceeded the highest pre-COVID-19 weight.
conclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic was associated with an immediate decrease in marijuana and methamphetamine seizures, and then increases throughout 2020 with some months exceeding the number (and weights) of seizures from the previous year. More research is warranted to determine the extent to which these seizures reflect changes in drug use.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.