BIVARIATE LOGISTIC REGRESSION MODELS TO PREDICT

NATURAL PSYCHEDELIC USE (N=57)

BIVARIATE LOGISTIC REGRESSION MODELS TO PREDICT

SYNTHETIC STIMULANT / PSYCHEDELIC USE (N=34)

DEMOGRAPHICS p OR 95% CI DEMOGRAPHICS p OR 95% Cl

Age under 24 <.001 3.79 1.97, 7.32 Age under 24 ns 0.88 0.43, 1.82

Hispanic .003 2.85 1.44, 5.64 Hispanic ns 0.96 0.46, 2.01

African American .010 0.24 0.08, 0.71 African American ns 0.67 0.24, 1.82

Severe mental distress .015 2.13 1.16, 3.93 Severe mental distress .021 2.47 1.14, 5.32

DSM substance dependence

dedependence

.032 1.99 1.06, 3.73 DSM substance dependence ns 2.08 0.95, 4.56

Injected drugs past 90 days ns 2.00 0.96, 4.17 Injected drugs past 90 days .009 2.97 1.31, 6.73

Drug-related psych problems ns 1.45 0.76, 2.74 Drug-related psych problems .008 3.81 1.42,10.23

Drug-related physical problems ns 1.77 0.96, 3.28 Drug-related physical problems .003 3.82 1.59, 9.16

BIVARIATE LOGISTIC REGRESSION MODELS TO PREDICT

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOID USE (N=33)

DEMOGRAPHICS p OR 95% CI

Age under 24 .017 2.63 1.19, 5.79

Hispanic .047 2.34 1.01, 5.44

African American ns 0.37 0.11, 1.26

Severe mental distress ns 1.13 0.54, 2.35

DSM substance dependence ns 1.25 0.59, 2.64

Injected drugs past 90 days ns 1.78 0.74, 4.29

Drug-related psych problems ns 1.60 0.71, 3.62

Drug-related physical problems ns 2.13 0.97, 4.70

Emerging Synthetic and Natural Psychoactive

Drugs in Miami’s Club Scene:

Users’ Demographic and Health Risk Profiles

Dr. Steven P. Kurtz ARSH, Nova Southeastern University: arsh.nova.edu

steven.kurtz@nova.edu 2 NE 40th Street, Suite 404, Miami, FL 33137

A randomized clinical trial of

behavioral interventions to reduce

drug use and HIV risk among

young adults in the club scene.

Aim: Ecstasy use has stabilized in the past decade,

but other classes of drugs are increasingly prevalent in

recreational drug use settings. These include synthetic

stimulants, psychedelics, and cannabinoids, as well as

natural psychedelic drugs. There is little information

about the demographic and health risk profiles of users

of these emerging drugs in the United States.

Methods: Eligible respondents (N=243) were ages 18

to 39 and reported recent use of club drugs and misuse

of prescription opioids and/or benzodiazepines.

Interviewers administered standardized health and

social risk assessments. Drugs of interest were

categorized for analysis: 1) natural psychedelics (e.g.,

psilocybin mushrooms, salvia), 2) synthetic

cannabinoids; and 3) synthetic psychedelics and

stimulants (e.g., 2C-x, mephedrone, BZP). Logistic

regression models examined demographic and health

risk characteristics of users of each category.

Age (median) 26 years

Male gender 64.6%

Ethnicity

Hispanic 59.6%

African American 19.8%

White/Other 20.6%

Education

Less than HS 16.5%

High School 35.4%

More than HS 48.1%

Severe mental distress 48.6%

DSM IV substance dependence 56.0%

Sample Characteristics (N=243)

Aims and Methods

Contact This research was supported by Grant Number R01DA019048 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Drug Abuse or the National Institutes of Health.

.

Results

Financial Support

The South Beach Project 2

Miami is an international center of nightclub culture,

where alcohol, illicit drugs, and prescription drugs are

often sequenced and/or combined. The tendency to mix

numerous substances puts nightclub attendees at high

risk for health and social consequences of drug abuse.

95.1% 94.1%

45.7%

26.7%

22.2% 21.0% 23.5%

14.0% 13.6%

93.0%

85.6%

45.3%

16.5%

Alcohol and marijuana not shown,

as both approach 100%

Discussion

Overlap of use of the three emerging categories of drugs was less

than 30%, except for synthetic and natural psychedelics where the

overlap was 44%.

Younger and Hispanic participants were more likely than others to be

recent users of both natural psychedelics and synthetic cannabinoids.

Demographics were unrelated to the use of synthetic

stimulants/psychedelics.

Recent users of synthetic stimulants and psychedelics appear to be at

high risk for drug injection and drug-related health problems. Natural

psychedelic users were also more likely to report severe mental

distress and substance dependence. None of these health risks

were associated with synthetic cannabinoid use.

Targeted information campaigns and prevention interventions are

warranted.

Steven P. Kurtz

Mance E. Buttram

Hilary L. Surratt

Catherine O’Grady

Shenika Moraldo

Background

Past 90 Day Drug Use / Rx Misuse