How are emerging drug trends monitored, and what new resources are coming for reducing methamphetamine use?
Last week the National Centre for Clinical Research on Emerging Drugs held its annual symposium which discussed different ways of improving health outcomes for people who use methamphetamines and other emerging drugs of concern.
Here are some of the highlights from the program.
Keeping an eye out for new and emerging illicit drugs
The Emerging Drugs Network of Australia (EDNA) is a collaborative effort of emergency physicians, clinical toxicologists, forensic laboratories and researchers aiming to minimise the negative effects of drug taking by collecting and sharing up-to-date data on patients who present to emergency departments after taking an illicit substance.
Presenting three years of data on new psychoactive substances (NPS) identified from the EDNA database, Dr Jennifer Smith (PhD), a senior research fellow at the University of Western Australia, said 336 of 2618 ED presentations across 14 contributing hospitals had at least one NPS detected in their system.
“Novel benzodiazepines ruled the roost in terms of total detection – three-quarters of our total NPS were novel benzos. Bromazepam and clonazolam were the clear frontrunners,” the EDNA national coordinator told delegates.
Other common NPSs detected were dimethylpentylone, a stimulant, and protonitazene, a synthetic opioid.
“But what makes this project so deliciously complex and interesting is that along with lots of NPS detections, we also have a very high frequency of illicit detections mixed in there too,” Dr Smith said, referring to the high numbers of patients who also tested positive for methamphetamines gammahydroxybutyrate, or GHB, and MDMA.
Two useful tools to help monitor and reduce methamphetamine use
NCCRED colleagues Seb Baird, digital product manager, and Dr Krista Siefried, clinical research lead, introduced delegates to the S-Check app. The app has been designed to engage methamphetamine users in treatment programs at earlier stages than they would otherwise.
“This is not around treatment,” explained Dr Siefried. “This is when people are a bit curious or concerned but haven’t identified their [methamphetamine] use as problematic.
The app involves a series of self-assessments in different areas of health, as well as tracking the user’s mood, sleep and methamphetamine. Users are then directed to targeted services, resources and information based on their responses to the assessments. Some assessments also provide pre-filled PDFs that can be passed on to primary care providers if the user is found to be at risk of a particular condition.
Related
The S-Check app will be released for both iOS and Android in late 2024.
The NCCRED’s knowledge translation lead, Dora Karavasilis, also introduced delegates to the organisation’s internet CBT program for methamphetamine, iMPACT, as a self-management program for individuals who use and want to change their relationship with the drug.
The product contains more than 30 CBT-based activities along with a range of resources and practices in five different modules – although there is a bonus sixth module that users can access once they have completed the first five.
“Anyone who’s ever done CBT know that it’s all about homework and things like that, but we’ve called them ‘practices’ to try and reframe that,” said Ms Karavasilis.
The program is designed to be completed over five weeks, although the self-paced nature of the program means users can take as little or as long as they like to work their way through the modules.
The iMPACT program will be available through an NCCRED-led research program early next year. Further information about the program can be obtained by signing up to the NCCRED mailing list.
One size does not fit all
While the S-Check app and the iMPACT program were well received by the audience, there were questions about whether these technologies could be expanded to be used for other substances or situations.
Dr Kathryn Fletcher, senior research associate at NCCRED, felt it would be more appropriate to use S-Check and iMPACT as a guide or a template rather than trying to use the same approach in different environments.
“I think it’s really important to first tailor the programs to the specific groups and the specific substance, because there are nuances in terms of what people need and what people want,” Dr Fletcher said.
“[But] that’s not to say that the general principles can’t be applied. For example, with the iMPACT program, that’s based on evidence-based cognitive behavioural therapy … [and] we know that’s useful across a range of different substance use disorders and mental health more broadly.”
Dr Siefried agreed with Dr Fletcher.
“We’ve had lots of people ask us that, and [while] there would be elements that would be useful, the narratives and the content [was] really tailored around [methamphetamines]. So to make it a more general thing, we’d really need to revise a lot of the content.”
