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Articles

Patterns of use, desired effects, and mental health status of a sample of natural psychoactive drug users

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Pages 191-198 | Received 15 Jan 2019, Accepted 18 Apr 2019, Published online: 07 May 2019
 

Abstract

In recent years, the use of natural psychoactive drugs (NPDs) has grown rapidly. They are classified as new psychoactive substances (NPSs), despite the reality that they have been used for centuries. We are lacking information regarding patterns of use or characteristics of users, but some evidence suggests that NPDs substantially differ from NPSs in terms of both their safety profile and patterns of use. The aim of this study was to investigate patterns of use and user characteristics by collecting data from a sample of NPD users. We designed an online questionnaire that was shared through social media. A sample of 564 NPD users was recruited from 52 different countries, with the United States being the most common (19%), followed by Spain (14.9%). The typical user in our sample is a well-educated adult individual who uses NPDs sporadically. The most used substances were Psilocybe mushrooms (88.5%) and ayahuasca (51%). Users reported that the use of NPDs positively influenced their lives, and they showed a good mental health status. Stakeholders should consider these results particularly when deciding on legal classifications for these substances, as the study findings suggest that NPDs should not be in the same class as NPSs.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the European Commission under Grant 59.360€.

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