I conducted a 2-year long study of drug harm from a sample of almost 70k Australian drug users.

Hi all, this is a preliminary post to discuss a study I recently conducted. I've been working as an academic researcher in the field of substance use for roughly 6 years now. In addition to that, I've also been a volunteer crisis worker for a hotline for about 10 years. In 2022 I received a research grant to investigate the harm and benefits associated with drug use. This area of research is relatively new and somewhat controversial in the drug research field, because the primary purpose of drug research is usually meant to prove that drugs are dangerous and why drug use should be criminalized. However, some substance use researchers are now pushing back on this approach since it has consistently been shown that criminalization and punishment only makes drug use worse for drug users. <br><br>In my research, I wanted to take a more neutral approach to examining the effects of drugs on drug users. So, in the study that I conducted drug use was assessed using a technique called the 'net harm index'. I assessed 14 different drug categories, and the drug categories that were assessed were: cocaine, crack, cannabis, dmt, ecstasy, heroin, ketamine, lsd, mdma, methamphetamine, psilocybin, tobacco, nitrous oxide and heroin. The results were interesting, and can be broken down into a few key findings.<br><br>The first key finding from this study was that heroin and methamphetamine were found to be the most harmful drugs overall for drug users. In contrast, psilocybin, ecstasy and dmt were found to be the least harmful drugs overall. Across all drug categories, the three most common reasons for why drug users reported harm from drug use were:<br><br>1. Mental health symptoms (anxiety, depression, paranoia, psychosis, sleep problems)<br>2. Interference with work or school<br>3. Interference with relationships and social life<br><br>This study also found that drug users who were female, who were younger and who were unemployed were more likely to experience harm from drug use than drug users who were male, employed and older. <br><br>Another interesting finding from this study was that drug users who had a history of psychological trauma were more likely to experience drug-related harm than drug users who did not have a history of psychological trauma. <br><br>Drug use frequency was another key factor in drug use harm. This study found that drug users who used drugs more frequently were more likely to experience drug-related harm than drug users who did not use drugs as often. <br><br>Finally, in this study drug users who reported experiencing pleasurable benefits from drugs were more likely to experience benefits from drug use than drug users who did not experience pleasurable benefits from drug use. <br><br>Overall, this study found that drugs can be both beneficial and harmful for drug users. While some drugs are softer and safer for drug users than others, drug-related harm is not only influenced by the drug that is being used. The study also highlighted that drug use frequency, drug users' mental health, drug users' history of trauma and drug users' life circumstances are also important factors that influence the likelihood of drug-related harm.