Table 1.
Reported frequency of drug use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 1,321).
| Amphetamine (n = 369) | Metamphetamine (n = 89) | MDMA /Ecstasy (n = 756) | GHB/GBL (n = 55) | Cocaine (n = 795) | Dissociative drugs (n = 398) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | ||
| Before the pandemic | never (0) | 14 (3.8) | 8 (9.0) | 37 (4.9) | 8 (14.5) | 50 (6.3) | 28 (7.0) |
| <1x per month (1) | 130 35.2) | 38 (42.7) | 489 (64.7) | 28 (50.9) | 355 (44.7) | 207 (52.0) | |
| ∼1x per month (2) | 56 (15.2) | 5 (5.6) | 125 (16.5) | 6 (10.9) | 134 (16.9) | 57 (14.3) | |
| 2–4x per month (3) | 102 (27.6) | 14 (15.7) | 96(12.7) | 7 (12.7) | 153 (19.2) | 77 (19.3) | |
| 2–3x per week (4) | 34 (9.2) | 7 (7.9) | 5 (0.7) | 4 (7.3) | 62 (7.8) | 16 (4.0) | |
| 4–6x per week (5) | 12 (3.3) | 2 (2.2) | 3 (0.4) | 0 (0.0) | 18 (2.3) | 11 (2.8) | |
| Daily (6) | 21 (5.7) | 15 (16.9) | 1 (0.1) | 2 (3.6) | 23 (2.9) | 2 (0.5) | |
| During the pandemic (in the last 4 weeks) | never in 4weeks (1) | 138 (37.4) | 44 (49.4) | 487 (64.4) | 32 (58.2) | 410 (51.6) | 202 (50.6) |
| <1x per month (1) | 83(22.5) | 18 (20.2) | 198 (26.2) | 14 (25.2) | 159 (20.0) | 86 (21.6) | |
| ∼1x per month (2) | 85 (23.0) | 12 (13.5) | 64 (8.5) | 4 (7.3) | 146 (18.4) | 74 (18.5) | |
| 2–4x per month (3) | 34 (9.2) | 9 (10.1) | 5 (0.7) | 1 (1.8) | 51 (6.4) | 24 (6.0) | |
| 2–3x per week (4) | 11 (3.0) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.1) | 3 (5.5) | 12 (1.5) | 7 (1.8) | |
| 4–6x per week (5) Daily (6) | 18 (4.9) | 6 (6.7) | 1 (0.1) | 1 (1.8) | 17 (2.1) | 6 (1.5) | |
| Difference (during minus pre-pandemic) | Decrease | 117 (48.0) | 47 (52.8) | 490 (64.8) | 31 (56.4) | 431 (54.2) | 210 (52.8) |
| Unchanged | 94 (25.5) | 21 (23.6) | 90 (11.9) | 8 (14.5) | 152 (19.1) | 72 (18.1) | |
| Increase | 98 (26.5) | 21 (23.6) | 176 (23.3) | 16 (29.1) | 212 (26.7) | 116 (29.1) | |
| Modal | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | |
| Median | 0 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | |
| M | −0.41 | −0.83 | −0.59 | −0.44 | −0.55 | −0.32 | |
| SD | 1.57 | 2.05 | 1.29 | 1.50 | 1.69 | 1.51 | |
| Min.; Max. | −6; 6 | −6; 3 | −5; 4 | −6; 2 | −6; 5 | −5; 6 | |
| Most common context | Before pandemic | Club: 318 (85.7) | At home: 64 (70.3) | Club: 643 (85.1) | Club: 34 (61.8) | Club: 639 (79.9) | At home: 284 (70.8) |
| During pandemic | At home: 196 (84.8) | At home: 33 (73.3) | At home: 214 (79.6) | At home: 20 (87.0) | At home: 294 (76.4) | At home: 172 (87.3) | |
| Price | Decrease | 16 (4.7) | 7 (8.1) | 12 (1.9) | 1 (1.9) | 20 (2.9) | 4 (1.2) |
| Unchanged | 299 (88.2) | 63 (73.3) | 520 (80.6) | 41 (78.8) | 498 (72.2) | 287 (82.5) | |
| Increase | 24 (7.1) | 16 (18.6) | 103 (17.5) | 10 (19.2) | 172 (25.0) | 57 (4.6) | |
| Quality | Decrease | 35 (10.4) | 10 (11.7) | 56 (8.7) | 2 (3.9) | 147 (21.5) | 28 (8.1) |
| Unchanged | 288 (85.0) | 65 (76.5) | 554 (86.7) | 48 (94.1) | 498 (72.7) | 303 (87.3) | |
| Increase | 16 (4.7) | 10 (11.8) | 29 (4.6) | 1 (2.0) | 40 (5.9) | 16 (4.6) | |
| Delivery / supply constraint | Decrease | 9 (4.0) | 6 (10.6) | 19 (5.4) | 1 (3.8) | 18 (4.2) | 40 (19.6) |
| Unchanged | 193 (85.8) | 43 (75.4) | 266 (75.6) | 19 (73.1) | 312 (74.3) | 153 (75.0) | |
| Increase | 23 (10.2) | 8 (14.1) | 57 (18.0) | 6 (23.0) | 90 (21.5) | 11 (5.4) |
Note. During the pandemic, “never in the last 4 weeks” is treated equivalent with “<1x per month”. Difference scores are calculated by the pandemic minus the pre-pandemic frequency; negative values thus indicate a decrease in the frequency of drug use and positive values an increase.