The Australians' Drug Use: Adapting to Pandemic Threats (ADAPT) Study is exploring the short and long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the experiences of Australians who use illicit drugs.
This bulletin outlines findings from the 702 eligible participants who completed the Wave 1 survey from 29 April to 15 June 2020. Cannabis and alcohol use had most commonly increased relative to before March 2020, while use of MDMA, cocaine and ketamine had most commonly decreased.
More than half of participants reported poorer mental health in the past four weeks relative to before March 2020, with almost two-fifths reporting that they had accessed help for mental health reasons in the past four weeks.
A small proportion of the sample reported that they had tried but been unable to access drug treatment and/or mental health services post March 2020. Findings from future surveys of the ADAPT sample will be reported on in future outputs.
Access the research paper - Key findings from the ‘Australians’ Drug Use: Adapting to Pandemic Threats’ (ADAPT) Study (PDF)
