![Sample our Health and Social Care journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5938/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Health-Social-Care.jpg"})
Abstract
The use of “club drugs” such as MDMA, ketamine, and GHB appears to have increased in Western countries over the last 20 years, and Australia is no exception to that trend. While levels of use appear to be relatively low in the general population, among users of these drugs a number of adverse health and psychological problems, including dependence, have been reported. MDMA or ecstasy is the third most commonly used illicit drug in Australia, and relatively more information is available on its use in Australia than of drugs such as GHB or ketamine. Although there are no population level data available, levels of ketamine use in the general population appear to be lower than those of MDMA. In addition, the harms reported by recreational users are not excessive and the mortality rate is low. At the individual level, many of those who experiment find the effects aversive and do not persist. The harms that require further investigation are the association between ketamine and unsafe sex and injecting behaviors, the neurotoxic effects, and use in situations where there is a heightened risk of accidental death when the user's cognition is grossly impaired. In contrast, while least is known of the epidemiology of GHB use, there is mounting evidence suggesting significant acute and long-term risks associated with the use of this drug. This suggests an urgent need for international research on the patterns of use, health, and psychosocial consequences of GHB use. In order to address public health issues associated with a range of club drug use, there is a need for research to identify the trends in population prevalence of these drugs. This could be most easily achieved by the inclusion of MDMA, ketamine, and GHB in household surveys that are currently collected routinely in a number of countries.
Notes
aThe term “ecstasy” originally referred to the compound 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDMA). In reality, drugs sold and consumed as “ecstasy” could contain any combination of a number of substances that may or may not be related to MDMA. For the purposes of the current paper, the term “ecstasy” is used on the understanding that drugs consumed as such may not be MDMA or even one of its analogues.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Louisa Degenhardt
Louisa Degenhardt, is a Senior Lecturer at NDARC. Louisa is the senior investigator on a number of projects monitoring trends in illicit drug markets across Australia: the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS), the Party Drugs Initiative (PDI), and the National Illicit Drug Indicators Project (NIDIP). All of these projects are designed to monitor trends in illicit drug availability, use, and related harms. Her research interests include: population drug use and drug-related harm, comorbidity between drug use and mental health problems, and the use of club drugs such as ketamine and GHB. Louisa undertakes statistical analyses of population surveys of drug use, and of epidemiological data on drug-related harm. She has participated in international collaborative efforts to define and estimate the extent of global drug-related morbidity and mortality.
Jan Copeland
Jan Copeland (Ph.D.), is a Senior Lecturer at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales. Her research interests include the treatment of cannabis dependence in adults and adolescents, women and substance use, substance use intervention issues for young people in the juvenile justice system, treatment evaluation and measurement of service utilization, and treatment outcome. She has around 139 publications (100 in peer-reviewed journals and monographs) and has given 200 oral papers including keynote addresses at national and international conferences over the last 12 years. Dr. Copeland sits on a number of national and international advisory groups on policy issues relevant to women, cannabis interventions, and treatment monitoring. She is an assistant editor of Addiction and the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment and a member of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence.
Paul Dillon
Paul Dillon, is the Information Manager at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre where his key role is to disseminate research findings to policy makers, drug and alcohol workers, and the general public. He has been contracted by agencies and organizations across Australia, and internationally, to give updates on current drug trends and is the official media spokesperson for NDARC. His research interests include drug education, youth issues, and the ecstasy/dance party culture. He was one of the investigators in the largest study examining ecstasy use in Australia and has published papers on the use of, and related harms associated with, ketamine, GHB, and anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS). Paul has been invited to give many oral papers at major conferences both in Australia and internationally on a variety of topics. He is currently a Member of the Steering Group for the International Conference on Night-Life, Substance Use and Related Health Issues.