NCJ Number
210978
Journal
Substance Use and Misuse Volume: 40 Issue: 9-10 Dated: 2005 Pages: 1241-1256
Date Published
2005
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the epidemiology of the use of “club drugs,” emphasizing research conducted among Australian users.
Abstract
Club drug is used to describe drugs historically taken in social or party situations. Over the last 20 years, the use of “club drugs” has increased in Western countries with Australia being no exception to the trend. With the increased interest and concern among health, law enforcement, and researchers due to the apparent increase in their use and related harm, this paper examines three particular “club drugs”: ecstasy (MDMA), ketamine, and GHB. This paper examines the evidence on the pharmacology, use and side effects of these three drugs in Australia. For the past 5 years, relatively good monitoring has occurred with sentinel groups of regular ecstasy users in Australia, with the result that rich data are available on sentinel groups of party drug users. However, there is at present a lack of data on population level use of newer drugs, such as GHB and ketamine. While levels of use appear to be relatively low in the general populations, among users of these drugs a number of adverse health and psychological problems, including dependence, have been reported. References