Mireia Ventura

Energy Control | Barcelona (ES)

Lecture:
Research and Market Monitoring based on DC

Drug Checking services are integrated services that enable drug users that bought their drugs on the grey or black market to have them chemically analyzed as well as to receive advice and - if necessary - consultation and counseling. The implementation of this type of services for more than 20 years has transformed them into powerful tools for monitoring recreational drug markets and connecting with hard-to-reach users.

First evaluation results support their utility and effectiveness in removing potentially toxic drugs from the market. Related to the impact on users, recent research detected that gender differences regarding harm reduction strategies show a correlation with women with higher educational level and adopting safer MDMA consumption patterns. This implies a big challenge for drug checking services, as they are faced with the paradox that their messages specially appeal to highly educated women but the vast majority of their users are men.

Related to monitoring, it’s important to highlight the effort that is being done by the Trans-European Drug Information project (TEDI). TEDI is a network of 14 European fieldwork Drug Checking services that share their expertise and data within a European monitoring and information system. It serves as an early warning system and a tool for monitoring the evolution of recreational drug markets in Europe.  During 2018 TEDI developed a database system that collects, monitors and analyses the evolution of various European drug trends in recreational settings. First results collected in this database will be presented.