Evolution of the Illegal Substances Market and Substance Users' Social Situation and Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken for tackling it had the potential to lead to deep modifications in the supply of illegal drugs and to impact substance users' health and social situation. To investigate this, we used mixed methods, i.e., quantitative data collected with a brief questionnaire from substance users receiving opioid agonist treatment in a treatment centre in Switzerland (N = 49), and qualitative data obtained using semi-structured phone interviews among a sub-group of participants (N = 17). We repeated data collection twice over four weeks to investigate trends over time (N = 51 and 14 at wave 2). Findings consistently showed the limited impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the illegal substance market. Over the two waves, the supply, price and purity

SUBMITTER: Gaume J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8125553 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature