Comparing NPS Users in Nightlife Settings and Online Communities.

Henriques, S. et al. (2023). Comparing nps users in nightlife settings and online communities. Video Journal of Social and Human Research, 3(1). 45-57. http/doi.org/10.18817/vjshr.v3i1.50

This video reports on the comparison between two groups of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) users: users in nightlife settings and users in online communities.

This article reports on the comparison between two groups of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) users: users in nightlife settings and users in online communities. A quantitative survey was conducted in six EU countries (Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, and Portugal) within a convenience sample of adult (18 years+) current (12-month) NPS users. Participants self-completed either a pen-and-paper or online questionnaire. 2,757 respondents across the six European countries were reached during data collection in the two considered user groups. The comparison was based on sociodemographic characteristics, use patterns and market. The groups of NPS used are: herbal blends and/or synthetic cannabinoids; branded stimulants and/or stimulants/empathogenics/nootropics obtained pure; psychedelics; dissociatives; and other NPS. Internet and virtual markets assume great relevance both for nightlife and online communities. Different drug policies and diverse geographical location between the participant countries are the main characteristics that impact on the results - namely in the presence/absence of some substances, or in the legal concept of NPS. Comparing users in nightlife settings and online users highlighted substantive trends in NPS use across countries and user groups. New opportunities in the drug market were driven by technological developments on the internet.

NPS; nightlife users; online users; categories of NPS; virtual markets; European trends.

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Susana Henriques is PhD in Sociology, is Associate Professor at Universidade Aberta (UAb), Department of Education and Distance Learning. She is a researcher at CIES_Iscte (Lisbon University Institute), at LE@D, and at CEG (UAb). She has 20 years of teaching experience in higher education and research, in supervising research fellows, postdoctoral, PhD, and master students. She led national and international projects, presented communications at scientific events and has peer-reviewed publications. She is a member of scientific and professional associations such as the Portuguese Association of Sociology (APS), European Society for Prevention Research (EUSPR), UAb’ contact person at ICUDDR. The fields of specialization and areas of interest in research include issues of network digital education, media literacy and health literacy, research methodologies.