Discriminative Characteristics of Marginalised Novel Psychoactive Users: a Transnational Study
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Discriminative Characteristics of Marginalised Novel Psychoactive Users: a Transnational Study Katalin Felvinczi 1 & Annemieke Benschop 2 & Róbert Urbán 1 & Marie Claire Van Hout 3 & Katarzyna Dąbrowska 4 & Evelyn Hearne 5 & Susana Henriques 6 & Zsuzsa Kaló 1 & Gerrit Kamphausen 7 & Joana Paula Silva 6 & Łukasz Wieczorek 4 & Bernd Werse 7 & Michal Bujalski 4 & Zsolt Demetrovics 1 & Dirk Korf 2 # The Author(s) 2019
Abstract New psychoactive substances (NPS) continue to be considered as a major public health concern in many European countries. The study was implemented within the framework of a transnational project of six European countries (Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal). Our aim here is to report on the distinct and differentiating characteristics of marginalised NPS users. Three subgroups of a total of 3023 adult NPS users (socially marginalised, night life, online community) were examined regarding their sociodemographic characteristics, substance use, and external motives towards NPS use. Poland and Hungary reported higher rates of NPS use in comparison to traditional controlled drugs. The external/contextual motives did not play a central role in the background of NPS use, the least important motives were alleged legality and non-detectability of these substances. Marginalised (defined as those accessing low threshold harm reduction services) users’ substance use patterns are different from the other two groups in terms of showing more intense and riskier drug use. The most important variables which contributed to be categorised as a marginalised NPS user were lower level education, being older, having an unfavourable labour market position and using drugs intravenously. Contextual motives did not play a decisive role in being categorised as a marginalised user when drug use pattern was controlled. These identified discriminative features of marginalised drug users should inform policy makers to develop and implement tailor-made interventions targeting this user group to successfully tackle the elevated public health concerns associated with NPS use. Keywords NPS use . User groups . Contextual motivation . Public health concern . Drug policy
* Zsolt Demetrovics [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction
New psychoactive substances (NPS) are a major public health and policy concern in several parts of the world. NPS are defined as “synthetic or naturally occurring substances that are not controlled under international law, and often produced with the intention of mimicking the effects of controlled drugs” (EMCDDA 2014, p.27). In general, NPS represent a multitude of synthetic and natural compounds marketed as alternatives to conventional illicit drugs (i.e. cannabis, heroin, cocaine, speed, ecstasy), the most popular being cathinone derivatives (i.e. mephedrone, 4-MEC, MDPV), other amphetamine-type substances, and synthetic cannabinoids, with the phenomenon observed since
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