Identifying emerging trends in recreational drug use; outcomes from the Psychonaut Web Mapping Project

Deluca, Paolo; Davey, Zoe; Corazza, Ornella; Furia, Lucia Di; Farré, Magı́; Flesland, Liv; Mannonen, Miia; Majava, Aino; Peltoniemi, Teuvo; Pasinetti, Manuela; Pezzolesi, Cinzia; Scherbaum, Norbert; Siemann, Holger; Skutle, Arvid; Torrens, Marta; Kreeft, P van der; Iversen, Erik; Schifano, Fabrizio

doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2012.07.011

Cited by 211 publications

(142 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…In recent years, new/novel psychoactive substances (NPS) have become increasingly popular in Europe and the United States (EMCDDA 2014a;Papaseit et al, 2014;Deluca et al, 2012). NPS are defined as substances which are not prohibited by the United Nations Drug Conventions of 1961 and 1971, or by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, but which may pose a public health threat comparable with that presented by substances listed in these conventions (ACMD, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Pharmacology of Mephedrone in Comparison with MDMA

Papaseit

Pérez‐Mañá

Mateus

et al. 2016

Neuropsychopharmacol

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132

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Mephedrone (4-methylmethcathinone) is a novel psychoactive substance popular among drug users because it displays similar effects to MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, ecstasy). Mephedrone consumption has been associated with undesirable effects and fatal intoxications. At present, there is no research available on its pharmacological effects in humans under controlled and experimental administration. This study aims to evaluate the clinical pharmacology of mephedrone and its relative abuse liability compared with MDMA. Twelve male volunteers participated in a randomized, double-blind, crossover, and placebo-controlled trial. The single oral dose conditions were: mephedrone 200 mg, MDMA 100 mg, and placebo. Outcome variables included physiological, subjective, and psychomotor effects, and pharmacokinetic parameters. The protocol was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02232789). Mephedrone produced a significant increase in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, and pupillary diameter. It elicited stimulant-like effects, euphoria, and well-being, and induced mild changes in perceptions with similar ratings to those observed after MDMA administration although effects peaked earlier and were shorter in duration. Maximal plasma concentration values for mephedrone and MDMA peaked at 1.25 h and 2.00 h, respectively. The elimination half-life for mephedrone was 2.15 h and 7.89 h for MDMA. In a similar manner to MDMA, mephedrone exhibits high abuse liability. Its earlier onset and shorter duration of effects, probably related to its short elimination half-life, could explain a more compulsive pattern of use as described by the users.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Pharmacology of Mephedrone in Comparison with MDMA

Papaseit

Pérez‐Mañá

Mateus

et al. 2016

Neuropsychopharmacol

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132

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“…Over the last 5-10 years there has been a steady increase in the number of NPS [5] with approximately 100 new NPS found in 2013. There are also increasing numbers of deaths associated with legal high use [6] , although in most cases the deceased are polydrug misusers and the drug(s) which caused death cannot be accurately determined.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Survey of knowledge of legal highs (novel psychoactive substances) amongst London pharmacists

Guirguis

Corkery

Stair

et al. 2015

Drugs and Alcohol Today

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Purpose: To determine pharmacists' knowledge of legal highs (novel psychoactive substances; NPS). Approach:A questionnaire was handed out at 2 London pharmacist continuing education events in mid-2014. These events update pharmacists about developments of interest/relevance to the profession and to improve their practice. A total of 54 forms were returned; a response rate of 26%.Findings: Most pharmacists had poor knowledge of NPS and many considered that NPS were not important to their work, with few having had to advise customers in this area. Despite this, the majority thought that they had insufficient information about NPS. There was a negative correlation between the age of the pharmacist and knowledge of NPS. Research Limitations:The sample is a self-selected one drawn from registered pharmacists working in community pharmacies in North West London, and thus does not include hospital pharmacies. Self-selection means that respondents may only reflect those who are interested in the NPS phenomenon and not the wider pharmacy community. The geographical area covered may not be representative of London as a whole, or indeed other parts of the UK or other EU countries. Practical and Social Implications:It is clear that pharmacists do not know much about NPS but would like to know more. This information might improve their practice. Pharmacists, easier to see than general practitioners, could be a useful source of information for NPS misusers.Originality: There have been no previous attempts to gauge the level of knowledge by pharmacists of legal highs/novel psychoactive substances in the UK or elsewhere to our knowledge.2

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“…In previous work similar Internet fora have been used (Schifano et al, 2006;Carhart-Harris et al, 2011;Deluca et al, 2012;Kjellgren and Jonsson, 2013;Van Hout and Bingham, 2013) but the approach taken here is novel in that a time-dependent measure of the activity was extracted. This measure is similar in spirit to the search-history intensity obtained from web-based search-engines Forsyth, 2012) but it has advantages compared to such measures:…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the large number of members on FB it is a valuable and accessible source of information on attitudes and interest towards drugs in general and NPS in particular (c.f. Schifano et al, 2006;Deluca et al, 2012). Approximately 3700 members were followed on the eight threads and this is, in Swedish contexts, quite a large number (for comparison: there are approximately 600,000 persons between 19 and 24 in Sweden).…”

Section: Tablementioning

confidence: 99%

The interest in eight new psychoactive substances before and after scheduling

Ledberg¹

2015

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

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a b s t r a c tBackground: In recent years the recreational use of new psychoactive substances (NPS) has increased. NPS are considered a threat to public health and the main response to this threat is to make the selling and buying of these substances illegal. In Sweden, during the last 5 years, 62 new substances have been classified as narcotics but little is known of the effects of making a particular substance illegal. The aim of this work is to study how legal status influences the interest in NPS in Sweden. Methods: Forty-five thousand posts made in a Swedish Internet discussion forum (Flashback Forum) related to eight NPS (MDPV, Methylone, 4-MEC, 4-HO-MET, MXE, 6-APB, AH-7921, and 3-MMC) were used to derive time-dependent measures of interest in these substances. Intervention analyses were used to investigate the effects of legal status on the forum interest. Results: For all eight substances the activity on the forum (measured as number of posts per day) showed a drastic decrease around the time of classification. The statistical analysis showed that in seven of eight cases, the drop in activity could be accounted for by the legal status of the substances. Conclusions: The legal status of the substances was shown to have a substantial effect on the interest in the substances. The novel measure used to trace the interest in particular NPS could be a useful tool to follow trends in substance use in almost real-time.

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Identifying emerging trends in recreational drug use; outcomes from the Psychonaut Web Mapping Project

Cited by 211 publications

References 25 publications

Human Pharmacology of Mephedrone in Comparison with MDMA

Human Pharmacology of Mephedrone in Comparison with MDMA

Survey of knowledge of legal highs (novel psychoactive substances) amongst London pharmacists

The interest in eight new psychoactive substances before and after scheduling

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