According to the report, coca cultivation soared 35 per cent from 2020 to 2021, a record high and the sharpest year-to-year increase since 2016. The steep growth in supply has been matched by a similar swelling in demand, with many regions showing a steady rise in cocaine users over the past decade. Read more
In this article, the authors present an evaluation of online psychoactive substance trade via Telegram, a free encrypted social media messenger service. The evaluation took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed the authors to monitor the effects of the spring 2020 lockdown in the Netherlands on substance trade via Telegram. Read more
A study from Singapore has evaluated the effectiveness of mental health chatbots in helping alleviate symptoms of depression. Read more
Darknet-hosted drug markets (‘cryptomarkets’) are an established model of illicit drug distribution which makes use of specialised online hosting and payment systems to link buyers and sellers remotely. Cryptomarkets appear to professionalise, gentrify and integrate drug markets. Therefore, they can be hypothesised to have effects on drug availability by allowing purchases by people who use drugs (PWUD) outside of face-to-face networks that have typified drug distribution. They may attract new buyers and may change use patterns by offering a greater range of higher-potency drugs. This paper examines the research on cryptomarkets’ potential impacts on drug availability. Read more
Men who have sex with men (MSM) who practice chemsex have a higher likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behaviors and higher rates of HIV infection and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) than those who do not. Read more
Multiple areas in the United States of America (USA) are experiencing high rates of overdose and outbreaks of bloodborne infections, including HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV), due to non-sterile injection drug use. We aimed to identify neighbourhoods at increased vulnerability for overdose and infectious disease outbreaks in Rhode Island, USA. The primary aim was to pilot machine learning methods to identify which neighbourhood-level factors were important for creating “vulnerability assessment scores” across the state. The secondary aim was to engage stakeholders to pilot an interactive mapping tool and visualize the results. Read more
Despite the growth of web-based interventions for HIV, viral hepatitis (VH), and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) for key populations, the evidence for the effectiveness of these interventions has not been reported. Read more
Constituting the fourth part of the World Drug Report 2022, this booklet focuses on the market dynamics of various stimulants – cocaine, amphetamines and “ecstasy” – and of NPS. Read more
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Sociology of drugs and digital sociology—albeit for different reasons—need the analysis of interactions, an approach underdeveloped in current scholarship. The researchers address this gap by providing a specific analytical framework for the analysis of digital interactions which enables an ethnomethodological account of micro-interactional dynamics within a cryptomarket: an anonymous darknet market of illicit drugs. Read more
