Has the COVID-19 pandemic changed substance use patterns, drug market and drug response in Poland?

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the prevalence of substance use. Moreover, the analysis will focus on the impact of the pandemic on the drug market and drug-related crime in Poland. The tested hypothesis assumes that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the prevalence of substance use and the related problems, and that the availability of drugs decreased. The data presented and processed for the purposes of this publication come from the monitoring of drugs and drug addiction and from different studies from 2020 to 2022. The analyses presented in the article do not show an increase in the use of psychoactive substances during the pandemic; furthermore, it is possible to indicate a decrease in the consumption of alcoholic beverages in 2020. It seems that the COVID-19 pandemic did not have a large impact on the availability and use of new psychoactive substances (NPS). The analysis of the drug market during the pandemic COVID-19 did not show a fall in the availability of drugs at the national level.

Keywords

• covid-19
• drug use patterns
• drugs market
• new psychoactive substances
• drug treatment
• poland