PMID- 34159666 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20211213 LR - 20220716 IS - 1360-0443 (Electronic) IS - 0965-2140 (Print) IS - 0965-2140 (Linking) VI - 117 IP - 1 DP - 2022 Jan TI - 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. PG - 182-194 LID - 10.1111/add.15620 [doi] AB - AIMS: To 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. DESIGN: Annual 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. SETTING: Australian capital cities. PARTICIPANTS: Australians 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. FINDINGS: For 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). CONCLUSIONS: After 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. CI - (c) 2021 Society for the Study of Addiction. FAU - Price, Olivia AU - Price O AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-2259-735X AD - National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. FAU - Man, Nicola AU - Man N AD - National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. FAU - Bruno, Raimondo AU - Bruno R AD - National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. AD - School of Psychological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia. FAU - Dietze, Paul AU - Dietze P AD - Behaviours and Health Risks, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia. FAU - Salom, Caroline AU - Salom C AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-8986-9735 AD - National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. AD - Institute for Social Science Research, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. FAU - Lenton, Simon AU - Lenton S AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-7013-9812 AD - National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Australia. FAU - Grigg, Jodie AU - Grigg J AD - National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Australia. FAU - Gibbs, Daisy AU - Gibbs D AD - National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. FAU - Wilson, Tanya AU - Wilson T AD - School of Psychological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia. FAU - Degenhardt, Louisa AU - Degenhardt L AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-8513-2218 AD - National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. FAU - Chan, Roanna AU - Chan R AD - National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. FAU - Thomas, Natalie AU - Thomas N AD - Institute for Social Science Research, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. FAU - Peacock, Amy AU - Peacock A AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-5705-2026 AD - National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. AD - School of Psychological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia. LA - eng GR - Australian Government Department of Health/ GR - R01DA1104470/National Institute of Health (NIH) grants National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)/ GR - 1174630/NHMRC Investigator Fellowship/ GR - 1135991/NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowship/ GR - The National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University/ GR - R01 DA044170/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States PT - Journal Article PT - Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural PT - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't DEP - 20210716 PL - England TA - Addiction JT - Addiction (Abingdon, England) JID - 9304118 RN - 0 (Illicit Drugs) RN - KE1SEN21RM (N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine) SB - IM MH - Australia/epidemiology MH - *COVID-19 MH - Cross-Sectional Studies MH - Humans MH - *Illicit Drugs MH - *N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine MH - Pandemics MH - SARS-CoV-2 PMC - PMC8441814 MID - NIHMS1716539 OTO - NOTNLM OT - Big events OT - COVID-19 OT - MDMA OT - drug markets OT - harms OT - illicit drug OT - pandemic EDAT- 2021/06/24 06:00 MHDA- 2021/12/15 06:00 PMCR- 2021/07/16 CRDT- 2021/06/23 07:41 PHST- 2021/02/02 00:00 [revised] PHST- 2020/11/16 00:00 [received] PHST- 2021/06/09 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2021/06/24 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2021/12/15 06:00 [medline] PHST- 2021/06/23 07:41 [entrez] PHST- 2021/07/16 00:00 [pmc-release] AID - ADD15620 [pii] AID - 10.1111/add.15620 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Addiction. 2022 Jan;117(1):182-194. doi: 10.1111/add.15620. Epub 2021 Jul 16.