New Psychoactive Substances in the Homeless Population: A Cross-Sectional Study in the United Kingdom

Abstract

The last few years have seen the emergence of new psychoactive substance among the homeless population, specifically synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists. The purpose of this study is to investigate the knowledge and experiences of new psychoactive substances amongst users from the homeless population. An explanatory research design was applied using a semi-structured questionnaire with the focus on gaining insights on the prevalence, motivations and effects. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling from support organisations and charities UK-wide. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were applied to analyse the data obtained from participant surveys. A total of 105 participants met the inclusion criteria and were in the age range of 18 to 64 years old. Almost 70% consumed new psychoactive substance products, which “Spice” was the most prevalent substance. Homeless users had consumed new psychoactive substance to escape reality and to self-treat themselves and stopped consumption due to the adverse effects. Adverse events were reported from the majority of the participants and led to more than 20% of the participants requiring medical treatment following hospitalisation. Findings from this study can contribute to the development of guidelines and policies that specifically address the needs of the homeless population who use new psychoactive substances.

Turning down the spice: tackling the problems of synthetic cannabinoids

“…This effectively abolished the open sale of these substances by high street retailers (“head shops”) and was followed by a reduction in their use in the general population from 0.9% (279 000) in 2014-15 to 0.4% (130 000) in 2021-22 4. However, evidence is emerging that harms related to synthetic cannabinoids have not reduced but have shifted to more vulnerable groups , particularly people who are experiencing homelessness or are in prison 567. Alarmingly, deaths related to synthetic cannabinoids quadrupled after the act was introduced, according to data from the National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths 7.…”