Strong increase in the number of intoxications involving psychoactive drugs among adolescents reported to the Dutch Poisons Information Center from 2014-2023.

From 2014 to 2023, the Dutch Poisons Information Center saw a significant rise in poisoning events involving psychoactive drugs among adolescents aged 13-17, with a 14% annual increase. Cannabis-related poisonings more than tripled, especially from edibles; MDMA poisonings doubled; and reports of the synthetic cathinone 3-MMC rose from none to 24 cases. The variety of new psychoactive substances also expanded, from 1 type in 2014 to 13 in 2023. The authors note that the toxicity of many new substances remains unknown and call for more education and legislative action to address the trend.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The use of psychoactive drugs has been increasing worldwide, with adolescents and young adults accounting for a large share of people who use drugs. To date, there is limited information on trends of intoxications with psychoactive drugs among adolescents, particularly with regard to New Psychoactive Substances (NPS). A retrospective study was performed from 2014-2023 to characterize intoxications with psychoactive drugs among adolescents aged 13-17 years, reported to the Dutch Poisons Information Center (DPIC). Data were collected on patient (age and gender) and exposure characteristics (psychoactive drugs involved, day and month of exposure). From 2014-2023 the DPIC was consulted on 978 poisoning events among adolescents involving psychoactive drugs. A significant increase in the number of poisoning events was observed from 2014 to 2023 (RR = 1.14, 95 % CI: 1.11-1.16, p < 0.001). The largest increase was observed in the number of poisoning events with cannabis products (208 % increase, 2014: n = 13 vs. 2023: n = 40) (especially edibles), MDMA (100 % increase, 2014: n = 27 vs. 2023: n = 54) and 3-methylmethcathinone (3-MMC) (2014: n = 0, 2019: n = 2 vs. 2023: n = 24). There was also an increase in the variety of NPS the DPIC was consulted on, with 1 type of NPS reported in 2014 and 13 in 2023. In this study, a strong increase was observed in the number of intoxications with psychoactive drugs among adolescents from 2014-2023. The increase in intoxications with psychoactive drugs among adolescents, as well as the increase in the number of different types of NPS is worrying, since toxicity of especially NPS is often unknown. More education on the potential dangers along with upcoming legislative changes, might reverse this trend.