{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,1]],"date-time":"2026-08-01T14:43:00Z","timestamp":1785595380299,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,23]],"date-time":"2021-04-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1619136000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychiatry"],"abstract":"<jats:p><jats:bold>Background:<\/jats:bold> In response to the COVID-19-pandemic, a lockdown was established in the middle of March 2020 by the German Federal Government resulting in drastic reduction of private and professional traveling in and out of Germany with a reduction of social contacts in public areas.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Research Questions:<\/jats:bold> We seek evidence on whether the lockdown has led to a reduced availability of illegal drugs and whether subjects with substance-related problems tried to cope with possible drug availability issues by increasingly obtaining drugs via the internet, replacing their preferred illegal drug with novel psychoactive substances, including new synthetic opioids (NSO), and\/or by seeking drug treatment.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Methods:<\/jats:bold> A questionnaire was anonymously filled in by subjects with substance-related disorders, typically attending low-threshold settings, drug consumption facilities, and inpatient detoxification wards from a range of locations in the Western part of Germany. Participants had to both identify their main drug of abuse and to answer questions regarding its availability, price, quality, and routes of acquisition.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Results:<\/jats:bold> Data were obtained from 362 participants. The most frequent main substances of abuse were cannabis (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 109), heroin (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 103), and cocaine (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 75). A minority of participants reported decreased availability (8.4%), increased price (14.4%), or decreased quality (28.3%) of their main drug. About 81% reported no change in their drug consumption due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown. A shift to the use of novel psychoactive substances including NSO were reported only by single subjects. Only 1\u20132% of the participants obtained their main drug via the web.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Discussion:<\/jats:bold> Present findings may suggest that recent pandemic-related imposed restrictions may have not been able to substantially influence either acquisition or consumption of drugs within the context of polydrug users (including opiates) attending a range of addiction services in Germany.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2021.648273","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,23]],"date-time":"2021-04-23T05:32:43Z","timestamp":1619155963000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":36,"title":["Availability of Illegal Drugs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Western Germany"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Norbert","family":"Scherbaum","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Udo","family":"Bonnet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Henning","family":"Hafermann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fabrizio","family":"Schifano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stefan","family":"Bender","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Torsten","family":"Grigoleit","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jens","family":"Kuhn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Nyhuis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ulrich W.","family":"Preuss","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gerhard","family":"Reymann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Udo","family":"Schneider","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jo","family":"Shibata","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"Specka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","unstructured":"Vereinbarung zwischen der Bundesregierung und den Regierungschefinnen und Regierungschefs der Bundesl\u00e4nder angesichts der Corona-Epidemie in Deutschland [Agreement between the Federal Government and the Gouvernors of the Federal States Concerning the Corona Epidemic in Germany]"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"129","DOI":"10.32598\/bcn.11.covid19.1","article-title":"COVID-19 and substance use disorders: recommendations to a comprehensive healthcare response. An International Society of Addiction Medicine (ISAM) Pratice and Policy Interest Group position paper","volume":"11","author":"Farhoudian","year":"2020","journal-title":"Basic Clin Neurosci."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"767","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2020.00767","article-title":"COVID-19: the hidden impact on mental health and drug addiction","volume":"11","author":"Chiappini","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front Psychiatry."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"116","DOI":"10.1055\/s-0043-102059","article-title":"New psychoactive substances \u2013 a challenge for the addiction treatment services","volume":"50","author":"Scherbaum","year":"2017","journal-title":"Pharmacopsychiatry."},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"149","DOI":"10.3389\/fnins.2020.00149","article-title":"Novel opioids: systematic web crawling within the e-psychonauts' scenario","volume":"14","author":"Arillotta","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front. Neurosci."},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"121","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuropharm.2017.10.016","article-title":"Fentanyl, fentanyl analogs and novel synthetic opioids: a comprehensive review","volume":"134","author":"Armenian","year":"2018","journal-title":"Neuropharmacology."},{"key":"B7","unstructured":"LisbonEMCDDATrendspotter Briefing: Impact of COVID-19 on Patterns of Drug Use and Drug-Related Harms in Europe.2020"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"144006","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2020.144006","article-title":"Monitoring drug consumption in Innsbruck during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown by wastewater analysis","volume":"757","author":"Reinstadler","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sci Total Environ."},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"601653","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2020.601653","article-title":"Cannabis and COVID-19: reasons for concern","volume":"11","author":"van Laa","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front Psychiatry."},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"569","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2020.00569","article-title":"Prevalence of Novel Psychoactive Substance (NPS) use in patients admitted to drug detoxification treatment","volume":"11","author":"Specka","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front Psychiatry."},{"key":"B11","volume-title":"European Addiction Severity Index EuropASI, Manual f\u00fcrTraining und Durchf\u00fchrung","author":"Gsellhofer","year":"1999"},{"key":"B12","unstructured":"SeitzN-N\n            RauschertC\n            AtzendorfJ\n            KrausL\n          MunichIFT Institut f\u00fcr TherapieforschungSubstanzkonsum und Hinweise auf substanzbezogene St\u00f6rungen in Berlin, Hessen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Sachsen und Th\u00fcringen. Ergebnisse des Epidemiologischen Suchtsurvey 2018. IFT-Berichte Bd. 190 [Substance Use and Substance Use Disorders in Berlin, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony and Thuringia. Results of the 2018 Epidemiological Survey of Substance Abuse. IFT-Reports Vol. 190].2020"},{"key":"B13","volume-title":"DSM-IV Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.","year":"1994"},{"key":"B14","volume-title":"EU Drug Markets Report 2019","year":"2019"},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pnpbp.2020.110144","article-title":"High lifetime, but low current, prevalence of new psychotropic substances (NPS) use in German drug detoxification treatment young inpatients","author":"Scherbaum","year":"2020","journal-title":"Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry."},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1185","DOI":"10.1016\/j.euroneuro.2017.08.430","article-title":"How addictive are gabapentin and pregabalin? A systematic review","volume":"27","author":"Bonnet","year":"2017","journal-title":"Eur Neuropsychopharmacol."},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"659","DOI":"10.1111\/cns.13115","article-title":"Pregabalin: a range of misuse-related unanswered questions","volume":"25","author":"Schifano","year":"2019","journal-title":"CNS Neurosci Ther."},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"647","DOI":"10.1007\/s40263-016-0359-y","article-title":"A decade of gabapentinoid misuse: an analysis of the European Medicines Agency\/EMA \u2018suspected adverse drug reactions\u2019 database","volume":"30","author":"Chiappini","year":"2016","journal-title":"CNS Drugs."},{"key":"B19","unstructured":"LisbonEMCDDAEMCDDA & Europol - EU Drug Markets \u2014 Impact of COVID-19.2020"},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e2573","DOI":"10.1002\/hup.2573","article-title":"The deep web; why it matters for addiction psychiatry","volume":"32","author":"Orsolini","year":"2017","journal-title":"Hum Psychopharmacol."},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"146","DOI":"10.3390\/brainsci10030146","article-title":"Analyzing the open\/deep web to better understand the New\/Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) scenarios; suggestions from CASSANDRA and NPS. Finder\u00ae research projects","volume":"10","author":"Schifano","year":"2020","journal-title":"Brain Sci."},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e23365","DOI":"10.2196\/23365","article-title":"Evidence synthesis of digital interventions to mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public mental health: a rapid meta-review","volume":"23","author":"Rauschenberg","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Med Internet Res."},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1089\/tmj.2020.0481","article-title":"Clinicians' perceptions of rapid scale-up of telehealth services in outpatient mental health treatment","author":"Sugarman","year":"2021","journal-title":"Telemed J E Health."},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1031","DOI":"10.1176\/appi.ajp.2020.20091375","article-title":"Addiction as a coping response: hyperkatifeia, deaths of despair, and COVID-19","volume":"177","author":"Koob","year":"2020","journal-title":"Am J Psychiatry."},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"S39","DOI":"10.1002\/mpr.244","article-title":"Factors influencing the course of opiate addiction","volume":"17","author":"Scherbaum","year":"2008","journal-title":"Int J Methods Psychiatr Res."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Psychiatry"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyt.2021.648273\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,23]],"date-time":"2021-04-23T05:33:31Z","timestamp":1619156011000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyt.2021.648273\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,23]]},"references-count":25,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpsyt.2021.648273"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpsyt.2021.648273","relation":{},"ISSN":["1664-0640"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1664-0640","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,23]]},"article-number":"648273"}}