By Clare Roche
A recent survey conducted by the University of New South Wales has examined how COVID-19 has affected illicit drug use in Australia.
Drug researchers say that these changing drug trends will have big impacts on:
- Drug use
- Drug procurement
- Drug markets
The results found that:
- Drugs like MDMA, ketamine and LSD were being used at a similar level or less than they were before the pandemic
- 2/5 people reported they were using more cannabis than before COVID-19
However, it was a common trend amoung participants to find that their reduced substance use was the result of social distancing and limited opportunities to socialise.
Many researchers predict that once the restrictions begin to ease, people will likely take more drugs, espicially substances like MDMA and cocaine.
Young people are particularly affected by this issue as people aged 18–24 are the most likely age group to have used illicit drugs in the last 12 months, according to the Australian Institutefor Health and Wellbeing.
This is espicially allarming as it is widley understood that people aged 18-24 are generally not considered ‘high risk’ of falling sick to COVID.
However, this statement excludes those that partake in illicit drug use.
While they are not a vulnerable age group, many young Australians remain ignorant to that fact that they could be immunocompromised by their lifestyle.
With Only 10% of participants reported seeking information on how to reduce their risk of COVID-19 when using drugs, this drug exposé highlights how dangerous illicit drug use is durring a Pandemic.
We talked to Breeanna Cummings on her own observations and her feelings on the long term problems arising from an already drawn out global crisis.
She says:
“People are more likely to take illicit during times of stress.”
– BRee Cummings
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