Changing patterns of new and emerging psychoactive substances in Australia

Transcription

1 Changing patterns of new and emerging psychoactive substances in Australia Prepared by Rachel Sutherland, on behalf of the Drug Trends team The Drug Trends program is supported by funding from the Australian Government under the Substance Misuse Prevention and Service Improvement Grants Fund

2 What are new and emerging psychoactive substances? Designer drugs, research chemicals, synthetic drugs, analogues, legal highs. Substances not controlled by international legislation, but which may pose a public health threat. Psychoactive drugs that are relatively new to recreational markets. 2

3 Number of new NPS reported each year Source: EMCDDA, EMCDDA - Europol 2016 Annual Report on the implementation of Council Decision 20054/387/JHA. 3

4 15 JANUARY April AUGUST AUGUST

5 NPS use in Australian general population National Drug Strategy Household Survey Conducted every 3 years; 2013 survey first to include data on NPS 5

6 Source: 2013 National Drug Strategy Household Survey

7 Monitoring NPS through Drug Trends IDRS (2000) Illicit Drug Reporting System Drug Trends NIDIP (2002) National Illicit Drugs Indicator Project EDRS (2003) Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System DNeT (2012) Drugs and New Technologies 1. Interviews with people who inject drugs Analysis data from other sources eg. * Overdose * Seizures * Treatment 1. Interview with regular psychostimulant users Investigates: * Drug marketplaces online; and * New technologies 2. Interviews with Key experts 2. Interviews with key experts 3. Indicator data 3. Indicator data 7

8 Which NPS are being monitored? (EDRS) PHENETHYLAMINES (2C-x, Benzo Fury, PMMA, DOI, NBOMe, 4-FA) TRYPTAMINES (DMT, 5-Meo-DMT, 4-AcO-DMT) SYNTHETIC CATHINONES (Mephedrone, Methylone, 4-MEC, Alpha-PVP, MDPV, Other substituted cathinone) SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS (K2/Spice, Kronic, Other) PIPERAZINES (BZP) PLANTS & EXTRACTS (LSA, Mescaline, Salvia Divinorum, Datura, Ayahuasca) AMINOINDANES (MDAI, 5-IAI) ARYLCYCLOHEXYLAMINES (Methoxetamine) United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2013, The Challenge of New Psychoactive Substances 8

9 % of EDRS sample Past six month use of any NPS, (n=5,703)

10 NPS Classes: What s increasing? % of EDRS sample 25 Phenethylamines (e.g. 2C-x, NBOMe ) Tryptamines (e.g. DMT, 5-Meo-DMT) Plant based NPS (e.g. Salvia, Ayahuasca, Datura)

11 NPS Classes: What s decreasing? % of EDRS sample Cathinones (e.g. methylone, mephedrone) Piperazines (e.g. BZP)

12 NPS Classes: Other patterns % of EDRS sample Cannabinoids Aminoindanes (MDAI, 5-IAI) Arylcyclohexylamines (MXE) Benzodiazepines Synthetic opioids, 2017 (n=3)

13 What might be driving these changes? Legislative changes Consumer preference Matthews et al., I like the old stuff better than the new stuff? Subjective experiences of new psychoactive substances. International Journal of Drug Policy, 40, Sutherland et al., Motivations for new psychoactive substance use among regular psychostimulant users in Australia, International Journal of Drug Policy, 43, Cairns et al., The impact of Australian legislative changes on synthetic cannabinoid exposures reported to the NSW Poisons Information Centre, International Journal of Drug Policy, 43,

14 Degree of overlap between use of classes ( ) Note: only first time participants included; n=3593 Note: Does not include synthetic cannabinoids. Repeat participants 14 excluded

15 How else do we monitor the NPS market in Australia? 15

16 What s being sold online? (July-Dec 2016) Roxburgh, A., Van Buskirk, J., Burns, L., and Bruno, R. (2017). Drugs and the Internet, Issue 8, May Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. 16

17 Number of vendors selling NPS (July-Dec 2016) Substance Alphabay Dream Market Hansa Valhalla n %^ n %^ n %^ n %^ 2C-x U DMT MDA Mephedrone α-pvp NBOMe FuranylFentanyl Synthetic Cannabinoids DOx Total Roxburgh, A., Van Buskirk, J., Burns, L., and Bruno, R. (2017). Drugs and the Internet, Issue 8, May Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. 17

18 Summary NPS use low among general population Rates of use elevated among people who use illicit drugs Remains a highly dynamic marketplace, highlighting the importance of drug monitoring systems Appear to seek out NPS that have similar properties to the traditional illicit drugs they are already using Riskier patterns associated with poly NPS use Synthetic opioids starting to appear on crypto markets, although use remains low among sentinel samples 18

19 Acknowledgements 2017 Drug Trends Team National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales (National, NSW, ACT, SA and the NT) Dr Courtney Breen, A/Professor Lucinda Burns, Ms Kerryn Butler, Ms Antonia Karlsson, Ms Courtney O Donnell, Ms Amanda Roxburgh, Ms Jennifer Stafford, Ms Rachel Sutherland, Ms Julia Uporova, Mr Joe van Buskirk, and Professor Alison Ritter Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health (VIC) Ms Amy Kirwan, Mr Arthur Truong, Dr Campbell Aitken and Professor Paul Dietze School of Medicine, University of Tasmania (TAS) Ms Bethany Lusk, Dr Amy Peacock, Dr Allison Matthews and A/Professor Raimondo Bruno National Drug Research Institute (WA) Mr James Fetherston, Ms Marina Nelson and Professor Simon Lenton School of Public Health, The University of Queensland (QLD) Dr Caroline Salom and Professor Rosa Alati Northern Territory Department of Health (NT) Mr Chris Moon, Ms Tania Davidson and Mr Warrant Que Noy PhD supervisory team A/Professor Lucinda Burns, A/Professor Raimondo Bruno, Dr Monica Barratt 19