Drug trajectories among club-drug-using young adult recruited through time-space sampling

Background: Cocaine, LSD, MDMA/ecstasy, ketamine, GHB, and methamphetamine have been termed “club drugs” because of their connection to the dance/rave club scene. Club drug users are more likely to be multi-drug users, yet there is little known about club drug user's trajectories/sequencing between drugs. Such information could be vital to understanding trends in drug use as well as gateways that link drug pathways together.

Methods: Data are taken from the Club Drugs and Health Project, a longitudinal study of NYC club-drug users (age 18-29) recruited through time-space sampling. Qualitative interview data (n = 255) were used to determine patterns of drug use as well as sequencing between first use of different club drugs.

Results: Prevalence and age at first use were as follows: MDMA/ecstasy (n = 91, M_age = 18.1); LSD (n = 70, M_age = 15.9); cocaine (n = 51, M_age = 18.4); methamphetamine (n = 10, M_age = 16.8); ketamine (n = 6, M_age = 18.2); GHB (n = 2, M_age = 22.0). In mapping trajectories between substances, both MDMA and LSD resulted in the longest and most diverse paths (i.e., these drugs were “seeds”), while other club drugs were often part of the pathways resulting from initial use of MDMA and LSD. Many trajectories “lead” to cocaine use (which also happened to be the most common drug recently used), highlighting the role that drug trends can have in impacting trajectories.

Conclusion: Understanding drug trajectories can be an essential tool used in providing drug education and prevention.