TY - JOUR
T1 - Disruption to Australian heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy markets with the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions
AU - Price, Olivia
AU - Man, Nicola
AU - Sutherland, Rachel
AU - Bruno, Raimondo
AU - Dietze, Paul
AU - Salom, Caroline
AU - Agramunt, Seraina
AU - Grigg, Jodie
AU - Degenhardt, Louisa
AU - Peacock, Amy
N1 - Funding Information:
Drug Trends and the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre are funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care under the Drug and Alcohol Program. OP receives PhD scholarships from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. RS and AP have NHMRC Investigator Fellowships (#1197241, #1174630). PD and LD have NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowships (#1136908, #1135991). LD is also supported by a National Institute of Health National Institute on Drug Abuse grant (R01DA1104470).
Funding Information:
We thank the Chief Investigators and the broader Drug Trends team, past and present, for their contribution to the Illicit Drug Reporting System and Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System. We also thank the thousands of participants who have shared their experiences and expertise with us over the years. Finally, we thank the Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and the University of New South Wales Sydney Community Reference Panel for their review of questionnaires and input on important items.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s)
PY - 2023/3
Y1 - 2023/3
N2 - Background: Changes to drug markets can affect drug use and related harms. We aimed to describe market trends of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy in Australia following the introduction of COVID-19 pandemic-associated restrictions. Methods: Australians residing in capital cities who regularly inject drugs (n ∼= 900 each year) or regularly use ecstasy and/or other illicit stimulants (n ∼= 800 each year) participated in annual interviews 2014-2022. We used self-reported market indicators (price, availability, and purity) for heroin, crystal methamphetamine, cocaine, and ecstasy crystal to estimate generalised additive models. Observations from the 2014-2019 surveys were used to establish the pre-pandemic trend; 2020, 2021 and 2022 observations were considered immediate, short-term and longer-term changes since the introduction of pandemic restrictions. Results: Immediate impacts on market indicators were observed for heroin and methamphetamine in 2020 relative to the 2014-2019 trend; price per cap/point increased (β: A$9.69, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.25-17.1 and β: A$40.3, 95% CI: 33.1-47.5, respectively), while perceived availability (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] for ‘easy’/’very easy’ to obtain: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.24-0.59 and aOR: 0.08, 95% CI: 0.03-0.25, respectively) and perceived purity (aOR for ‘high’ purity: 0.36, 95% CI: 0.23-0.54 and aOR: 0.33, 95% CI: 0.20-0.54, respectively) decreased. There was no longer evidence for change in 2021 or 2022 relative to the 2014-2019 trend. Changes to ecstasy and cocaine markets were most evident in 2022 relative to the pre-pandemic trend: price per gram increased (β: A$92.8, 95% CI: 61.6-124 and β: A$24.3, 95% CI: 7.93-40.6, respectively) and perceived purity decreased (aOR for ‘high purity’: 0.18, 95% CI: 0.09-0.35 and 0.57, 95% CI: 0.36-0.90, respectively), while ecstasy was also perceived as less easy to obtain (aOR: 0.18, 95% CI: 0.09-0.35). Conclusion: There were distinct disruptions to illicit drug markets in Australia after the COVID-19 pandemic began; the timing and magnitude varied by drug.
AB - Background: Changes to drug markets can affect drug use and related harms. We aimed to describe market trends of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy in Australia following the introduction of COVID-19 pandemic-associated restrictions. Methods: Australians residing in capital cities who regularly inject drugs (n ∼= 900 each year) or regularly use ecstasy and/or other illicit stimulants (n ∼= 800 each year) participated in annual interviews 2014-2022. We used self-reported market indicators (price, availability, and purity) for heroin, crystal methamphetamine, cocaine, and ecstasy crystal to estimate generalised additive models. Observations from the 2014-2019 surveys were used to establish the pre-pandemic trend; 2020, 2021 and 2022 observations were considered immediate, short-term and longer-term changes since the introduction of pandemic restrictions. Results: Immediate impacts on market indicators were observed for heroin and methamphetamine in 2020 relative to the 2014-2019 trend; price per cap/point increased (β: A$9.69, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.25-17.1 and β: A$40.3, 95% CI: 33.1-47.5, respectively), while perceived availability (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] for ‘easy’/’very easy’ to obtain: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.24-0.59 and aOR: 0.08, 95% CI: 0.03-0.25, respectively) and perceived purity (aOR for ‘high’ purity: 0.36, 95% CI: 0.23-0.54 and aOR: 0.33, 95% CI: 0.20-0.54, respectively) decreased. There was no longer evidence for change in 2021 or 2022 relative to the 2014-2019 trend. Changes to ecstasy and cocaine markets were most evident in 2022 relative to the pre-pandemic trend: price per gram increased (β: A$92.8, 95% CI: 61.6-124 and β: A$24.3, 95% CI: 7.93-40.6, respectively) and perceived purity decreased (aOR for ‘high purity’: 0.18, 95% CI: 0.09-0.35 and 0.57, 95% CI: 0.36-0.90, respectively), while ecstasy was also perceived as less easy to obtain (aOR: 0.18, 95% CI: 0.09-0.35). Conclusion: There were distinct disruptions to illicit drug markets in Australia after the COVID-19 pandemic began; the timing and magnitude varied by drug.
KW - Big events
KW - COVID-19
KW - Drug markets
KW - Illicit drug
KW - Pandemic
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85149915896&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.drugpo.2023.103976
DO - 10.1016/j.drugpo.2023.103976
M3 - Article
C2 - 36822010
AN - SCOPUS:85149915896
SN - 0955-3959
VL - 113
JO - International Journal of Drug Policy
JF - International Journal of Drug Policy
M1 - 103976
ER -
