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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Bill Sanders, PhD¹, Steve Lankenau, PhD¹, Jennifer Jackson Bloom, MPH², and Dodi Hathazi, BS². (1) Department of Pediatrics, University of Southern California, 6430 W. Sunset Blvd., Suite 1500, Hollywood, CA 90028, 310-429-4085, bsanders@chla.usc.edu, (2) Division of Research on Children, Youth and Families, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, 6430 W. Sunset Blvd., Suite 1500, Hollywood, CA 90028

Tryptamines and phenethylamines are broad categories of illegal substances with both stimulant and hallucinatory properties. With the exception of psilocybin mushrooms (tryptamine) and MDMA (phenethylamine), epidemiologic profiles of users are scarce since surveillance studies infrequently report use of these substances. Tryptamines include dimethyltryptamine (DMT), alpha-methyltryptamine (AMT), diisopropyl-tryptamine (DiPT) and their 5-MeO counterparts (5-MeO-AMT, 5-MeO-DMT, 5-MeO-DiPT (‘Foxy'). Phenethylamines include mescaline, 2C-B (‘Nexus'), 2C-I, 2C-E, and 2C-T-7. This presentation describes the types, modes of administrations, onset of use, context of use (motivation, social environment), and health risks associated with tryptamines and phenethylamines among a sample of young drug users. Observations and in-depth interviews were used to recruit young injection drug users (n=184) aged 16 to 28 in New York, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. Approximately 41% of the sample (n=75) reported using between one to seven different tryptamines and/or between one to three different phenethylamines. Users were primarily male (75%), white (88%), heterosexuals (75%), and currently homeless (75%). Findings indicate that youths recruited in Los Angeles were more likely to report use of both tryptamines and phenethylamines than New York or New Orleans youth. Age of initiating either type of substance across sites ranged from 14-24, with most having initiated between ages 15-18. Usage of such substances was infrequent and spontaneous, with most having been offered them by strangers. The dose-sensitivity of such substances combined with youths' relative lack of knowledge often led to undesired results, such as powerful and frightening hallucinations, with potential negative health outcomes, including injuries related to disorientations

Learning Objectives:

• 1)To identify types, administrations, onset of use, and general effects of various tryptamines and phenethylamines
• 2)To understand how motivation, social environment and prior drug use shapes tryptamine and phenethylamine use among high risk youth
• 3)To understand the health risks associated with tryptamine and phenethylamine use among high risk youth

Keywords: Drug Abuse, Behavioral Research

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No