Drug Information and Monitoring System, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Int J Drug Policy. 2012 Mar;23(2):134-40. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2011.05.016. Epub 2011 Jul 8.
A recent decline in MDMA-like substances in ecstasy tablets has been reported by a number of countries in the European Union. This study describes the instability of the ecstasy market in The Netherlands during 2008 and 2009, and investigates whether this had any impact on drug testing or patterns of drug use.
The health concerns of drug users handing in drug samples at drug testing facilities was measured using intervention time-series analysis. In addition, these ecstasy users were asked about changes in their drug use.
Nationally, the unstable market situation for ecstasy has increased the number of users handing in ecstasy tablets for testing because of health concern. There was no change in the number of users handing in cocaine or gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB). Respondents reported no major changes in their drug use resulting from the shortage of MDMA-like substances.
These findings provide further insight in drug policy based on both harm reduction and use reduction. In the event of reduced ecstasy quality, ecstasy users in The Netherlands have increasingly used drug testing as a potential harm reduction tool, rather than changing their patterns of drug use. This might indicate that a transient reduction of drug quality does not serve as a good drug use reduction strategy for ecstasy users.
欧盟的一些国家报告称，摇头丸类物质在摇头丸中的含量最近有所下降。本研究描述了 2008 年至 2009 年荷兰摇头丸市场的不稳定情况，并调查了这种情况是否对药物检测或药物使用模式有任何影响。
使用干预时间序列分析来衡量药物检测点上交药物样本的吸毒者的健康问题。此外，还询问了这些摇头丸使用者在药物使用方面的变化。
在全国范围内，由于健康问题，不稳定的摇头丸市场情况增加了因健康问题而上交摇头丸进行检测的使用者数量。可卡因或γ-羟基丁酸（GHB）使用者数量没有变化。受访者报告称，由于缺乏摇头丸类物质，他们的药物使用没有发生重大变化。
这些发现为基于减少伤害和减少使用的药物政策提供了进一步的见解。在摇头丸质量下降的情况下，荷兰的摇头丸使用者越来越多地将药物检测作为一种潜在的减少伤害的工具，而不是改变他们的药物使用模式。这可能表明，药物质量的暂时下降并不能成为摇头丸使用者减少药物使用的有效策略。
