ArticleAddiction (Abingdon, England)2022
Changes in illicit drug use and markets with the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions: findings from the Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System, 2016-20.
Article in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Patterns of substance-induced psychosis during the COVID-19 pandemic: a national registry study of specialist healthcare contacts.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Trends in alcohol, smoking, and drug use in cross-sectional samples of young people in Australia, 2015-24.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Trends of incident stimulant use disorder diagnoses before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia (2013-2024): a population-based study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Changes in Drug-Induced Hospitalisations and Deaths During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australia.Drug and alcohol review · 2025Article
- Article
- Structural and social changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic and their impact on engagement in substance use disorder treatment services: a qualitative study among people with a recent history of injection drug use in Baltimore, Maryland.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- The rising use of cognitive enhancement drugs and predictors of use during COVID-19: findings from a cross-sectional survey of students and university staff in the UK.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Consumption patterns before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among patients admitted to inpatient drug detoxification treatment: Results of two cross-sectional surveys from 2018 and 2021.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Trends in reported and biologically confirmed drug use among people who use ecstasy in the nightclub/festival-attending population, 2016-2022.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2023Article
- The impacts of COVID-19 measures on drug markets and drug use among a cohort of people who use methamphetamine in Victoria, Australia.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2023Article
- Increased Nicotine Consumption in Australia During the First Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2023Article
- Drug consumption in German cities and municipalities during the COVID-19 lockdown: a wastewater analysis.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2023Article
- Trends in drug use among nightclub and festival attendees in New York City, 2017-2022.The International journal on drug policy · 2023Article
- Co-designing drug alerts for health and community workers for an emerging early warning system in Victoria, Australia.Harm reduction journal · 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
- "The Drug Sellers Were Better Organized than the Government": A Qualitative Study of Participants' Views of Drug Markets during COVID-19 and Other Big Events.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Trends in deaths following drug use in England before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdowns.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- A stakeholder-driven framework for measuring potential change in the health risks of people who inject drugs (PWID) during the COVID-19 pandemic.The International journal on drug policy · 2022Article
- Trace residue identification, characterization, and longitudinal monitoring of the novel synthetic opioid β-U10, from discarded drug paraphernalia.Drug testing and analysis · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
aimsTo describe (i) self-reported changes in drug use and (ii) trends in price, perceived availability, and perceived purity of illicit drugs, among people who regularly use ecstasy/ 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and other illicit stimulants in Australia following COVID-19 and associated restrictions.
designAnnual interviews with cross-sectional sentinel samples conducted face-to-face in 2016-19 and via video conferencing or telephone in 2020. Data were collected via an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire.
settingAustralian capital cities.
participantsAustralians aged 16 years or older who used ecstasy/MDMA and other illicit stimulants on a monthly or more frequent basis and resided in a capital city, recruited via social media and word-of-mouth (n ~ 800 each year). MEASUREMENTS: Key outcome measures were self-reported illicit drug market indicators (price, purity and availability) and, in 2020 only, perceived change in drug use (including alcohol and tobacco) since March 2020 and reasons for this change.
findingsFor most drugs, participants reported either no change or a reduction in their use since COVID-19 restrictions were introduced. Ecstasy/MDMA was the drug most frequently cited as reduced in use (n = 552, 70% of those reporting recent use), mainly due to reduced opportunities for socialization. While market indicators were largely stable across most drugs, the odds of perceiving MDMA capsules as 'high' in purity decreased compared with 2016-19 [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.72, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.53-0.99], as did perceiving them as 'easy' to obtain (aOR = 0.42, CI = 0.26-0.67). The odds of perceiving cocaine and methamphetamine crystal as 'easy' to obtain also decreased (aOR = 0.67, CI = 0.46-0.96 and aOR = 0.12, CI = 0.04-0.41, respectively).
conclusionsAfter COVID-19-related restrictions were introduced in Australia, use of ecstasy/MDMA, related stimulants and other licit and illicit drugs mainly appeared to remain stable or decrease, primarily due to impediments to socialization.
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