Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, James Parson Tower, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK.
Saudi Ministry of Health, Najran, Saudi Arabia.
Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2022 Jun 27;17(1):48. doi: 10.1186/s13011-022-00455-5.
According to the World Drug Report, cocaine is the second most used drug globally after cannabis. Online discussion forums enable the understanding of authentic drug users' experience as it is anonymous. Therefore, this study determined the uses, effects and toxicity of cocaine from the perspectives' of e-psychonauts.
A qualitative study was conducted using six popular discussion forums. From these discussion forums, 1229 posts from 50 threads were subject to thematic analysis. Hence, the information from these threads were examined carefully for patterns and codes among the data. The codes were then collated into subthemes and themes.
The four main themes emerging from the study were related to cocaine characteristics and use, e-psychonauts' knowledge and experience, desired effects and adverse events. The main characteristic associated with cocaine use was purity that was highest in the US being nearest to the source. The most common cutting agent encountered in cocaine samples was levamisole that increased the chances of immunosuppression and cardiovascular toxicity. Purity depended on the source of purchase that included street dealers, dark web and surface web. Hence, e-psychonauts recommended purchase of cocaine from known dealers rather than websites with unknown sources. E-psychonauts mainly used cocaine in social context and parties or to self-medicate against anxiety and depression. Effects desired from cocaine use were mainly euphoria and increased energy. However, tachycardia and myocardial infarction were the main adverse events. It is noteworthy to mention that myocardial infarction was idiosyncratic and was often lethal. Myocardial infarction was more often reported when cocaine was combined with alcohol due to the production of cocaethylene. Social harm was also reported as a consequence for the use of cocaine that resulted in homelessness and broken relationships.
Online discussion forums allowed the understanding of e-psychonauts' experience with cocaine use. Not only it informed about the sources and modalities of use of cocaine but also about the adverse events and social harm associated with cocaine use. The present findings serve as useful information for practitioners and healthcare professionals dealing with cocaine users.
根据《世界毒品报告》，可卡因是仅次于大麻的全球第二大常用毒品。在线讨论论坛使人们能够从匿名的角度了解真实的吸毒者的体验。因此，本研究从电子迷幻者的角度确定了可卡因的用途、效果和毒性。
采用定性研究方法，使用六个流行的讨论论坛。从这些讨论论坛中，从 50 个线程中选取了 1229 个帖子进行主题分析。因此，仔细检查了这些线程中的信息，以寻找数据中的模式和代码。然后将代码整理成子主题和主题。
从研究中出现的四个主要主题与可卡因的特征和用途、电子迷幻者的知识和经验、期望的效果和不良事件有关。与可卡因使用相关的主要特征是纯度，美国的纯度最高，最接近源头。在可卡因样本中遇到的最常见的切割剂是左旋咪唑，这增加了免疫抑制和心血管毒性的机会。纯度取决于购买来源，包括街头毒贩、暗网和表面网。因此，电子迷幻者建议从知名经销商而不是来源不明的网站购买可卡因。电子迷幻者主要在社交场合和派对上使用可卡因，或者自我治疗焦虑和抑郁。使用可卡因期望的效果主要是欣快和增加能量。然而，心动过速和心肌梗死是主要的不良事件。值得一提的是，心肌梗死是特发性的，往往是致命的。当可卡因与酒精结合时，由于产生可卡乙脂，心肌梗死的报告更为常见。使用可卡因也会导致社会危害，如无家可归和人际关系破裂。
在线讨论论坛使人们能够了解电子迷幻者使用可卡因的体验。它不仅提供了有关可卡因来源和使用方式的信息，还提供了与可卡因使用相关的不良事件和社会危害的信息。本研究结果为处理可卡因使用者的从业者和医疗保健专业人员提供了有用的信息。
