Frontiers in Psychiatry (Aug 2021)

A Global Survey on Changes in the Supply, Price, and Use of Illicit Drugs and Alcohol, and Related Complications During the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic

  • Ali Farhoudian,
  • Seyed Ramin Radfar,
  • Seyed Ramin Radfar,
  • Hossein Mohaddes Ardabili,
  • Hossein Mohaddes Ardabili,
  • Parnian Rafei,
  • Parnian Rafei,
  • Mohsen Ebrahimi,
  • Arash Khojasteh Zonoozi,
  • Cornelis A. J. De Jong,
  • Mehrnoosh Vahidi,
  • Masud Yunesian,
  • Christos Kouimtsidis,
  • Shalini Arunogiri,
  • Helena Hansen,
  • Kathleen T. Brady,
  • ISAM Global Survey Consortium (ISAM-GSC),
  • Adrian Octavian Abagiu,
  • Franck David Noel Abouna,
  • Mohamed Hassan Ahmed,
  • Basma Al-ansari,
  • Feda Mahmmoud Abu Al-khair,
  • Mandhar Humaid Almaqbali,
  • Atul Ambekar,
  • Sidharth Arya,
  • Victor Olufolahan Asebikan,
  • Murad Ali Ayasreh,
  • Debasish Basu,
  • Zoubir Benmebarek,
  • Roshan Bhad,
  • Mario Blaise,
  • Nicolas Bonnet,
  • Jennifer Brasch,
  • Barbara Broers,
  • Anja Busse,
  • Jenna L. Butner,
  • Moses Camilleri,
  • Giovanna Campello,
  • Giuseppe Carra,
  • Ivan Celic,
  • Fatemeh Chalabianloo,
  • Abhishek Chaturvedi,
  • José de Jesús Eduardo Noyola Cherpitel,
  • Kelly J. Clark,
  • Melissa Anne Cyders,
  • Ernesto de Bernardis,
  • Abbas Deilamizade,
  • John Edward Derry,
  • Naveen Kumar Dhagudu,
  • Pavla Dolezalova,
  • Geert Dom,
  • Adrian John Dunlop,
  • Mahmoud Mamdouh Elhabiby,
  • Hussein Elkholy,
  • Nsidibe Francis Essien,
  • Ghandi Ilias Farah,
  • Marica Ferri,
  • Georgios D Floros,
  • Catherine Friedman,
  • Clara Hidalgo Fuderanan,
  • Gilberto Gerra,
  • Abhishek Ghosh,
  • Maka Gogia,
  • Ilias A. Grammatikopoulos,
  • Paolo Grandinetti,
  • Amira Guirguis,
  • David Gutnisky,
  • Paul Steven Haber,
  • Peyman Hassani-Abharian,
  • Zahra Hooshyari,
  • Islam Ibrahim Mokhtar Ibrahim,
  • Hada Fong-ha Ieong,
  • Regina Nova Indradewi,
  • Shelly Iskandar,
  • Thahir Noorul Isra,
  • Shobhit Jain,
  • Sandi James,
  • Seyyed Mohammad hossein Javadi,
  • Keun Ho Joe,
  • Darius Jokubonis,
  • Acka Tushevska Jovanova,
  • Rama Mohamed Kamal,
  • Alexander Ivanov Kantchelov,
  • Preethy Kathiresan,
  • Gary Katzman,
  • Paul Kawale,
  • Audrey Margaret Kern,
  • Felix Henrique Paim Kessler,
  • Sung-Gon Sue Kim,
  • Ann Marie Kimball,
  • Zeljko Kljucevic,
  • Kristiana Siste Kurniasanti,
  • Roneet Lev,
  • Hae Kook Lee,
  • Aiste Lengvenyte,
  • Shaul Lev-ran,
  • Geni Seseja Mabelya,
  • Mohamed Ali El Mahi,
  • J. Maphisa Maphisa,
  • Icro Maremmani,
  • Laura Masferrer,
  • Omid Massah,
  • Orlagh McCambridge,
  • Garrett Gregory McGovern,
  • Aung Kyi Min,
  • Amir Moghanibashi-Mansourieh,
  • Jazman Mora-Rios,
  • Indika Udaya Kumara Mudalige,
  • Diptadhi Mukherjee,
  • Pejic Munira Munira,
  • Bronwyn Myers,
  • Jayakrishnan Menon T. N.,
  • Venkata Lakshmi Narasimha,
  • Nkemakolam Ndionuka,
  • Ali-Akbar Nejatisafa,
  • Kamran Niaz,
  • Asad Tamizuddin Nizami,
  • Jan H. Nuijens,
  • Laura Orsolini,
  • Vantheara Oum,
  • Adegboyega Adekunle Oyemade,
  • Irena Rojnia Palavra,
  • Sagun Ballav Pant,
  • Joselyn Paredes,
  • Eric Peyron,
  • Randall Alberto Quirós,
  • Rouhollah Qurishi,
  • Noor ul Zaman Rafiq,
  • Ranjini Raghavendra Rao,
  • Woraphat Ratta-apha,
  • Karren-Lee Raymond,
  • Jens Reimer,
  • Eduardo Renaldo,
  • Tara Rezapour,
  • James Roy Robertson,
  • Carlos Roncero,
  • Fazle Roub,
  • Elizabeth Jane Rubenstein,
  • Claudia Ines Rupp,
  • Elizabeth Saenz,
  • Mohammad Salehi,
  • Lampros Samartzis,
  • Laura Beatriz Sarubbo,
  • Nusa Segrec,
  • Bigya Shah,
  • Hongxian Shen,
  • Tomohiro Shirasaka,
  • Steve Shoptaw,
  • Fransiskus Muronga Sintango,
  • Veronica Andrea Sosa,
  • Emilis Subata,
  • Norberto Sztycberg,
  • Fatemeh Taghizadeh,
  • Joseph Brian Tay Wee Teck,
  • Christian Tjagvad,
  • Marta Torrens,
  • Judith Meme Twala,
  • Ramyadarshni Vadivel,
  • Joseph Robert Volpicelli,
  • Jelmer Weijs,
  • Steven Michael Wintoniw,
  • Apisak Wittayanookulluk,
  • Marcin Wojnar,
  • Sadia Yasir,
  • Yimenu Yitayih,
  • Min Zhao

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.646206
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

Read online

Background and Aims: COVID-19 has infected more than 77 million people worldwide and impacted the lives of many more, with a particularly devastating impact on vulnerable populations, including people with substance use disorders (SUDs). Quarantines, travel bans, regulatory changes, social distancing, and “lockdown” measures have affected drug and alcohol supply chains and subsequently their availability, price, and use patterns, with possible downstream effects on presentations of SUDs and demand for treatment. Given the lack of multicentric epidemiologic studies, we conducted a rapid global survey within the International Society of Addiction Medicine (ISAM) network in order to understand the status of substance-use patterns during the current pandemic.Design: Cross-sectional survey.Setting: Worldwide.Participants: Starting on April 4, 2020 during a 5-week period, the survey received 185 responses from 77 countries.Measurements: To assess addiction medicine professionals' perceived changes in drug and alcohol supply, price, use pattern, and related complications during the COVID-19 pandemic.Findings: Participants reported (among who answered “decreased” or “increased”) a decrease in drug supply (69.0%) and at the same time an increase in price (95.3%) globally. With respect to changes in use patterns, an increase in alcohol (71.7%), cannabis (63.0%), prescription opioids (70.9%), and sedative/hypnotics (84.6%) use was reported, while the use of amphetamines (59.7%), cocaine (67.5%), and opiates (58.2%) was reported to decrease overall.Conclusions: The global report on changes in the availability, use patterns, and complications of alcohol and drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic should be considered in making new policies and in developing mitigating measures and guidelines during the current pandemic (and probable future ones) in order to minimize risks to people with SUD.

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