Rolling joints, not hundreds –
Jan. 4, 2021 – Aware of earlier findings that social isolation triggered spikes in drug use, researchers at New York University’s Langone Health Center wanted to quantify what social distancing measures imposed during New York’s lockdown in the spring did to that city’s party scene.
Among the 128 adults surveyed, large majorities reported using less cocaine (78.6 percent), less MDMA (71.1 percent) and less LSD (68 percent). Even those who still use cocaine reported using less of it, and less frequently. Only one drug surveyed showed a large, across-the-board increase: 35 percent of respondents reported using more cannabis, according to the survey, published in December in the journal Substance Use & Misuse.
According to the researchers, “this study is among the first to investigate changes in drug use behavior” caused by “widespread implementation of social distancing measures to contain COVID-19.”
