Boehnke Kevin F, McAfee Jenna, Ackerman Joshua M, Kruger Daniel J
Anesthesiology Department and Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
Anesthesiology Department and Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
Int J Drug Policy. 2021 Jun;92:103053. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.103053. Epub 2020 Nov 24.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic strains the medical system, limiting access to healthcare services. Many people use cannabis medically for chronic health conditions and as a substitute for other medications. As such, changes in cannabis access associated with COVID-19 may result in increased non-cannabis drug use.
We recruited N = 353 individuals through Amazon Mechanical Turk who reported current medical cannabis use in April and May of 2020. We assessed the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on patterns of medication and substance use, as well as on cannabis use patterns.
Over half of participants either started using or increased use of medications or substances because of the COVID-19 pandemic, most commonly alcohol and sleep aids. Over a third of participants increased cannabis use while 25% decreased cannabis use. Approximately 40% of participants who increased or started use of medications/substances (other than cannabis) reported doing so because of changed access to medical cannabis.
The reported increase in drug use among people using medical cannabis is concerning. Because the pandemic will likely continue for months (or even years), having a better understanding of why this is occurring is critical for developing effective harm-reduction strategies in this population.
持续的新冠疫情给医疗系统带来压力，限制了医疗服务的可及性。许多人因慢性健康状况而将大麻用于医疗目的，并作为其他药物的替代品。因此，与新冠疫情相关的大麻获取情况变化可能导致非大麻类药物使用增加。
我们通过亚马逊土耳其机器人平台招募了N = 353名在2020年4月和5月报告当前正在使用医用大麻的个体。我们评估了新冠疫情对药物和物质使用模式以及大麻使用模式的影响。
超过半数的参与者因新冠疫情开始使用或增加了药物或物质的使用，最常见的是酒精和助眠药物。超过三分之一的参与者增加了大麻使用量，而25%的参与者减少了大麻使用量。在增加或开始使用（除大麻外）药物/物质的参与者中，约40%报告这样做是因为医用大麻获取情况的改变。
医用大麻使用者中报告的药物使用增加令人担忧。由于疫情可能会持续数月（甚至数年），更好地理解这种情况发生的原因对于为这一人群制定有效的减少伤害策略至关重要。
