Abstract
COVID-19-related disruptions of people and goods' circulation can affect drug markets, especially for new psychoactive substances (NPSs). Drug shortages could cause a change in available NPS, with the introduction of new, unknown, substances. The aims of the current research were to use a web crawler, NPSfinder®, to identify and categorize emerging NPS discussed on a range of drug enthusiasts/psychonauts' websites/fora at the time of the pandemic; social media for these identified NPS were screened as well. The NPSfinder® was used here to automatically scan 24/7 a list of psychonaut websites and NPS online resources. The NPSs identified in the time frame between January and August 2020 were searched in both the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addictions (EMCDDA)/United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) databases and on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube) as well, with a content qualitative analysis having been carried out on reddit.com. Of a total of 229 NPSs being discussed at the time of the pandemic, some 18 NPSs were identified for the first time by the NPSfinder®. These included six cathinones, six opioids, two synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs), two phenylcyclohexylpiperidine (PCP)-like molecules, and two psychedelics. Of these NPSs, 10 were found to be previously unreported to either the UNODC or the EMCDDA. Of these 18 NPSs, opioids and cathinones were the most discussed on social media/reddit, with the highest number of threads associated. Current findings may support the use of both automated web crawlers and social listening approaches to identify emerging NPSs; the pandemic-related imposed restrictions may somehow influence the demand for specific NPS classes.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic has been considered as the worst global crisis after the global financial crash of 2007–2008 [1,2,3]
The NPSfinder R web crawler has been active since November 2017 and to date reported a total of 4,335 New psychoactive substances (NPSs) found on the surface web
Proper categorization and descriptive statistics were produced for these 229 molecules (Table 1); most popular NPS categories being commented on included synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs), synthetic opioids, and cathinones
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has been considered as the worst global crisis after the global financial crash of 2007–2008 [1,2,3] This was caused by massive disruptions in goods’ markets and restrictions imposed on individuals’ movements (home confinement) followed by the total blocking of air and land travel (January–June 2020) [4]. A diversification of the market was expected between January and June 2020 [12, 15] due to shortages of treatment and classic opiate and opioid drugs [16] pushing users to synthetic available alternatives; lack of precursors for synthetic drugs diverting productions toward new NPS analogs; the economic problems and anxiety caused by the pandemic forcing PWUDs to use cheaper and seek more potent substances; and increased drug e-commerce that followed the restrictions of individual movements [12] facilitating the distribution of NPSs. The expected trend of PWUDs switching to and/or increasingly accessing counterfeit/unknown drugs online represents a serious health threat that should be investigated and monitored
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