Symptoms and correlates of emergency medical treatment following the use of MDMA Dr. Larissa J. Maier Monica J. Barratt, Jason A. Ferris, & Adam R. Winstock Lx Addictions, October 24th – 26th 2017, Lisbon

Overview Part I The Rationale for the Study Part II The Global Drug Survey (GDS) Part III MDMA & Emergency Medical Treatment

Results Global drug market trends 21,600,000 UNODC (2017) UNODC (2017)

High purity ecstasy pills in Europe BACKGROUND High purity ecstasy pills in Europe Saferparty (2017)

Fixed-site drug checking Zurich 2007 – 2016 BACKGROUND Fixed-site drug checking Zurich 2007 – 2016 Saferparty.ch (2017)

Background We run the world‘s largest drug survey GDS2012 15,500 GDS2013 22,000 GDS2014 77,000 GDS2015 95,000 GDS2016 100,000 GDS2017 120,000 GDS2018 200,000+

GDS aims to make drug use safer regardless of the legal status of the drugs by sharing information with individuals, communities, health and policy organisations and government.

GDS Core Research Team + Senior Academic Mentor Group Background GDS Core Research Team + Senior Academic Mentor Group + Scientific Advisory Group + International Network

Strengths and limitations of the GDS EVALUATION Strengths and limitations of the GDS Acceptance among recreational drug users (≠ HH surveys) Profile new drugs quickly (e.g., Mephedrone, DMT, 1P-LSD) Identify regional differences Real time research Independent Mostly well-educated young adults Not representative

MDMA use for the first time Results MDMA use for the first time

Results EMT MDMA gender & age

No remarquable country differences Results No remarquable country differences 2.5% 1.2%

Symptoms related to EMT Results Symptoms related to EMT Anxiety Confusion Depressed mood Extreme agitation Palpitations Overheating Extreme sweating Paranoia

Were you admitted to hospital? (n=212) Results Were you admitted to hospital? (n=212)

MDMA Emergency Medical Treatment Results MDMA Emergency Medical Treatment

Could the EMT have been avoided? Results Could the EMT have been avoided? Only 55.6% (n=134) obtained the MDMA from a trusted source Only 29.0% (n=70) had tried the MDMA before that night Only 26.6% (n=64) started the night with a test dose Overall, 50.2% (n=121) took that night a bigger dose than their usual dose

Results Drug, set and setting 61.4% (n=148) were already drunk when starting MDMA use 5.6 alcoholic drinks and 1.3l water 27.4% think that the drug they used was adulterated Only 57.1% felt fine without physical (15.6%) or mental (13.7%) health issues or both (13.7%)

MOST EMergencies COULD PROBABLY HAVE BEEN AVOIdED!

@maier_larissa @globaldrugsurvy larissa.maier@hotmail.ch adam@globaldrugsurvey.com