Larissa J. Maier

Neuroenhancement is the use of substances by healthy subjects to enhance mood or cognitive function. The prevalence of neuroenhancement among Swiss university students is unknown. Investigating the prevalence of neuroenhancement among students is important to monitor problematic use and evaluate the necessity of prevention programs. To describe the...

Background: Psychoactive substance use aiming at increased performance at work or while studying, usually referred to as pharmacological cognitive enhancement (PCE), has been extensively researched in recent years. While large scale national studies have tried to assess the prevalence of PCE among the general population, cross-cultural comparisons...

The Swiss drug policy once was very progressive in the 1990s when the harm related to drug use was most visible to the public. Failure of repression opened the room for more innovative harm reduction approaches. In 2008, the four-pillar model including the legal basis for substitution and heroin-assisted treatment of opioid use disorders as well as...

Introduction Young adults who smoke cigarettes often report heavy episodic drinking (HED) and co-use of other psychoactive substances which may complicate efforts to quit cigarette smoking. The current study examined factors associated with readiness to quit cigarette smoking among young adults who smoke and engage in HED. Methods One hundred seve...

Background Ketamine’s popularity has surged globally in the past decade, especially among young men. Emergency department visits due to its toxicity remain relatively rare, often linked to co-occurring use of other substances. Aims Using data from the Global Drug Survey (GDS) 2018, this study explored the correlates associated with lifetime and pa...

Purpose - Using data from 36,981 respondents to the Global Drug Survey (GDS) COVID-19 Special Edition, this study aims to compare changes, following the first ''lockdown,'' in alcohol consumption between lesbian, gay, bisexual and other sexual minority (LGB+) and heterosexual respondents with and without lifetime mental health and neurodevelopmenta...

As individuals and communities around the world confront mounting physical, psychological, and social threats, three complimentary mind-body-spirit pathways toward health, wellbeing, and human flourishing remain underappreciated within conventional practice among the biomedical, public health, and policy communities. This paper reviews literature o...

Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic likely impacted cannabis distribution, access and usage worldwide. This study aims to describe self-reported changes in cannabis use and related outcomes following COVID-19-related restrictions among an international sample of people who use drugs. Design/methodology/approach Using data from the Global Drug Survey COV...

Past research into illicit online markets suggests that trust is produced by governance, reputation systems and the formation of social ties. In this paper, we draw on accounts of abstract and institutional trust, examining whether using a market is associated with general positive beliefs about product quality. Using data from the 2018 Global Drug...

Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare five gender groups (cisgender women, cisgender men, transgender women, transgender men, people with non-binary/other identities) on measures of use of and dependence on seven substances. Methods A two-stage approach to assessing gender allowed 126,648 participants from the 2018 Global Drug Survey t...

Synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs) may be used as an alternative to natural cannabis; however, they may carry a greater risk of problematic use and withdrawal. This study aimed to characterise the withdrawal symptom profile of SCRAs and compare their profile of effect with high-potency herbal cannabis. Global Drug Survey data (2015 and...

Non-medical use of prescription opioids (NUPO) is an increasing public health concern in Australia and New Zealand. In response to a lack of research on NUPO in this setting, we investigated the associations between NUPO, mental illnesses, and other substance use, using data from the 2019 Global Drug Survey (GDS). Strategies to reduce NUPO-related...

Background: The initial period of COVID-19-related restrictions affected substance use in some population groups. We explored how changes in alcohol use at the beginning of the pandemic impacted the health and well-being of people with and without mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions (MHDCs). Methods: Data came from the Global Drug Surv...

Background: This paper aimed to explore the differences in subjective experiences of intoxication depending on drinking location and drink type. Methods: Data came from 32,194 respondents to The Global Drug Survey (GDS) 2015, an annual, cross-sectional, online survey. Respondents selected their usual drinking location (home alone: home with partner...

Aims To describe and compare psychoactive substance misuse help-seeking among transgender (trans) and cisgender (cis) participants from a large multi-national cross-sectional survey. Background Trans people experience stressors related to their minority status which have been associated with increased rates of psychoactive substance use and relate...

A small body of literature suggests that transgender people are more frequently exposed to sexual violence while they are under the influence of alcohol than cisgender counterparts. The goal of this study was to report any differences between transgender (n=1,136) and cisgender (n=74,277) respondents to the Global Drug Survey on their experiences o...

Background Co-occurrence of tobacco use and heavy episodic drinking (HED; 5+ drinks for men and 4+ drinks for women per occasion) is common among young adults; both warrant attention and intervention. In a two-group randomized pilot trial, we investigated whether a Facebook-based smoking cessation intervention addressing both alcohol and tobacco us...

Consumption of Alcohol and Other Psychoactive Drugs during the Covid-19 Pandemic in the Global Drug Survey: A French Perspective The Global Drug Survey is an online survey that aimed to explore the experience of people who use drugs in general population. This survey is conducted annually between November and December. This special Covid-19 compone...

Introduction and Aims The illicit manufacture of methamphetamine in clandestine laboratories is associated with significant risks to the community and environment. Currently little is known about clandestine laboratories or the individual ‘cooks’ who operate them; current research directly engaging with cooks is limited to three qualitative studies...

One in six adults in California experience a mental illness, but up to 63% may not receive mental health services (California Health Care Foundation 2018). The treatment gap is even larger for people with substance use disorders (SUDs), and lack of treatment can lead to increased rates of suicide, homelessness, and incarceration (Weiner 2019a). Men...

Background: Microdosing psychedelics is the practice of taking small, sub-hallucinogenic doses of lysergic acid diethylamide or psilocybin containing mushrooms. Despite its surging popularity, little is known about the specific intentions to start microdosing and the effects of this practice. Aims: First, we aimed to replicate previous findings re...

Background: People who drink alcohol often seek to manage their intake in order to maximise the pleasurable effects, such as feelings of sociability and relaxation, without reaching their ‘tipping point’, where they feel out of control, or unwell. This paper aimed to explore three stages of intoxication; feeling the effects; being as drunk as you w...

Background: The emergence of legal cannabis industries poses a new public health challenge. Health information labels are part of the public health strategy for tobacco and alcohol, but there is limited research on cannabis-related messaging. This study explored perceptions of cannabis health information labels among people who used cannabis in the...

Background: Microdosing psychedelics – the practice of taking small, sub-hallucinogenic doses of substances like LSD or psilocybin-containing mushrooms – is becoming increasingly popular. Despite its surging popularity, little is known about the effects of this practice. Aims: This research had three main aims. First, we attempted to replicate prev...

Introduction Transgender (trans) people experience stressors related to their minority status which have been associated with increased rates of psychoactive substance use and related harm. Despite this, there is a paucity of evidence relating to the treatment needs of trans people who use psychoactive substances, beyond a small body of literature...

The present study was designed to investigate the phenomenon of chemsex among Moscow men who have sex with men (MSM) patients who were hospitalized due to various addictive disorders. It was an observational cohort study which included a total of 30 male patients who underwent inpatient treatment at the Moscow Research and Practical Centre on Addic...

Pediatric pharmacological cognitive enhancement (PPCE) refers to children’ and adolescents’ nonmedical use of prescription and recreational drugs for enhanced performance at school. Adolescents’ own intentional decision for substance use to compete with fellow students must be distinguished from parental decisions to enhance their children’s perfor...

Introduction: Drinking alcohol is legal in most countries of the world. Given the social acceptance of this behavior despite potential negative impact on health, help-seeking behavior could differ when compared to other drugs. This paper aimed to assess intentions to reduce drinking and the preferred sources of support among a large international s...

Background: Alcohol is responsible for a large share of death and disability around the world. Despite evidence linking alcohol to cancer, awareness of this risk is low. The European Union has recently called for information about the strength of drinks and calorie content, to be mandatory on alcohol labels. However, there is still a lack of eviden...

Background: Alcohol is responsible for a large share of death and disability around the world. Legislation is the most effective way to reduce consumption, but providing information to drinkers is also important to raise awareness of health impacts. The European Union has recently called for some information, such as the strength of drinks and calo...

Background: This study aimed to compare alcohol consumption and intention to reduce drinking across 25 countries. In addition, differences in preferred sources of support to reduce drinking were investigated among those who plan to seek help by gender, age, AUDIT scores, employment status and mental health. Methods: The Global Drug Survey (GDS) is...

Background: Neuroimaging studies imply that the regular use of ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), the major constituent of ecstasy pills, alters the brain's serotonergic system in a dose-dependent manner. However, the relevance of these findings remains unclear due to limited knowledge about the ecstasy/MDMA use pattern of real-life users....

Background: While the impact of changing drug policies on rates of drug use has been investigated, research into how help-seeking behaviour changes as drug policies become more public-health focused is limited. This paper investigates reported changes in confidence to utilise drug services following hypothetical changes in national drug policy amo...

Background: Drug law enforcement subsumes the majority of drug policy expenditure across the globe. Fuelled by knowledge that much of this investment is ineffective or counter-productive there have been increasing calls for cross-national comparisons to identify where policing approaches differ and what types of approaches may be more effective. Y...

Objectives We examined protective and non-protective effects of disadvantaged social identities and their intersections on lifetime substance use and risky alcohol consumption. Methods Data from 90,941 participants of the Global Drug Survey 2015 were analysed. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to calculate adjusted odds ratios for lifeti...

Background: Research demonstrates gender related differences in drug-use practices and risk behaviours. Females' structural vulnerability stemming from traditional gender roles and gender-power relations may enhance their propensity to experience injecting related risk. In this paper we explore gender differences in injection practices at the init...

Im vergangenen Jahrzehnt wurde sowohl in der wissenschaftlichen und bioethischen Literatur als auch in Medien und Politik vermehrt über Pharmakologisches Neuro-Enhancement (PNE) als Instrument zur kognitiven Leistungssteigerung diskutiert. Unter diesem Begriff werden der nicht medizinisch indizierte Konsum von verschreibungspflichtigen Medikamenten...

A decline in response rates in traditional household surveys, combined with increased internet coverage and decreased research budgets, has resulted in increased attractiveness of web survey research designs based on purposive and voluntary opt-in sampling strategies. In the study of hidden or stigmatised behaviours, such as cannabis use, web surve...

Objective: This study aimed to describe self-reported patterns of use and effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) analogues (AL-LAD, 1P-LSD, and ETH-LAD) and the characteristics of those who use them. Methods: An anonymous self-selected online survey of people who use drugs (Global Drug Survey 2016; N = 96,894), which measured perceived drug...

Vom 24. bis 26. November 2016 haben Akteure aus Nachtleben, Schadensminderung, Forschung und Stadtplanung an einer Fachtagung in Berlin mit rund 600 TeilnehmerInnen über bewährte und neue Ansätze zur Gewährleistung von Gesundheit und Sicherheit im Nachtleben diskutiert. Das Fazit der Konferenz war, dass die Entwicklung von Freiräumen durch Subkultu...

Das Glas Wein beim Essen, der Joint beim Chillen, die MDMA-Pille auf der Party. Der Konsum von legalen und illegalen psychoaktiven Substanzen basiert meist auf hedonistischen Motiven und erfolgt hauptsächlich in der Freizeit. Die damit verbundenen Risiken und möglichen negativen Erlebnisse werden in Kauf genommen, nur wenige Personen leben abstinen...

Im vergangenen Jahrzehnt wurde sowohl in der wissenschaftlichen und bioethischen Literatur als auch in Medien und Politik vermehrt über Pharmakologisches Neuro-Enhancement (PNE) als Instrument zur kognitiven Leistungssteigerung diskutiert. Unter diesem Begriff werden der nicht medizinisch indizierte Konsum von verschreibungspflichtigen Medikamenten...

Introduction: In the general population, alcohol use disorder and depression more often occur together than any other combination of a mental illness with a substance use disorder. It is important to have a cost-effective intervention that is able to reach at-risk individuals in the early stages of developing alcohol use disorders and depression d...

Cognitive performance;mood;pharmacological neuroenhancement

Pharmacological cognitive enhancement (PCE) refers to the nonmedical use of prescription or recreational drugs to enhance cognitive performance. Several concerns about PCE have been raised in the public. The aim of the present study was to investigate students’ attitudes toward PCE. Students at three Swiss universities were invited by e-mail to par...

(DOCX)

Response rate and participant characteristics. (DOC)

Students’ attitudes toward pharmacological cognitive enhancement (PCE) in numbers and proportions. (XLSX)

Prescription and recreational drug use for pharmacological cognitive enhancement (PCE) while studying. (DOC)

Tabakkonsum gehört zu den wichtigsten Ursachen für verminderte Lebensqualität und verfrühte Mortalität. In den letzten Jahren haben sich verschiedene Strategien und Massnahmen zur Reduktion des Tabakkonsums in Europa als erfolgreich erwiesen, wobei diese hauptsächlich Erfolge bei mittleren und oberen Einkommensschichten verzeichnen konnten. Untersc...

The use of prescription or recreational drugs for cognitive enhancement (CE) is prevalent among students. However, the prevalence of CE among Swiss school students is unknown. We therefore performed a cross-sectional online survey including >= 16-year-old students from bridge-year schools (10th grade), vocational schools, and upper secondary school...

To estimate the prevalence of self-reported pharmacological neuroenhancement (PNE) with prescription or recreational drugs among the Swiss general population and correlates of PNE. A population-based cross-sectional study using a self-administered online survey. A telephone-recruited highly representative Internet Panel in Switzerland. A total of 1...

Web-based self-help interventions that aim to reduce problematic substance use are able to reach "hidden" consumer groups in the general population who often fear stigmatization and thus avoid institutional addiction treatment. In Western European countries, including Switzerland, cocaine is the most widely used psychoactive substance after alcohol...

The ongoing bioethical debate on pharmacological cognitive enhancement (PCE) in healthy individuals is often legitimated by the assumption that PCE will widely spread and become desirable for the general public in the near future. This assumption was questioned as PCE is not equally save and effective in everyone. Additionally, it was supposed that...

Pharmacological neuroenhancement, defined as the misuse of prescription drugs, illicit drugs, or alcohol for the purpose of enhancing cognition, mood, or prosocial behavior, is not widespread in Europe – nevertheless, it does occur. Thus far, no drug has been proven as safe and effective for cognitive enhancement in otherwise healthy individuals. E...

Freizeitdrogenkonsum, sei dies mittels legalen oder illegalen Drogen, ist in der Schweiz eine Realität. Dabei scheint der Mischkonsum von verschiedenen psychoaktiven Substanzen während einer typischen Partynacht eher die Regel als die Ausnahme zu sein, was für diese Gruppe von Freizeitdrogenkonsumierenden eine Vielzahl an Risiken mit sich bringt. F...

Intelligenz, Begabung, Emotionen & Glück beeinflussen unsere Leistungsfähigkeit - am Arbeitsplatz und im Privatleben.

Background: Neuroenhancement refers to the use of psychoactive substances by healthy subjects to enhance cognitive or affective functioning. Possible side-effects and long-term effects of the use of substances for neuroenhancement are not yet investigated. Stress in the workplace and in education has increased in recent years. Response to stress ca...

Recreational drug use refers to the use of psychoactive substances for the purpose of recreation, pleasure, or self-discovery and is common in today’s society. Tobacco and alcohol are the most frequently used legal psychoactive substances in Europe, whereas cannabis remains the most frequently used illicit drug. Moreover, the use of illicit stimula...

Ziel der vorliegenden, von der Schweizerischen Unfallversicherungsanstalt SUVA in Auftrag gegebenen Studie war es, erstmals repräsentative Bevölkerungszahlen zu Doping am Arbeitsplatz und in der Bildung für die Schweiz zu ermitteln.

In Switzerland, perceived stress has increased in recent years (Grebner et al., 2010). Stressed employees and people in education appear to be at high-risk for using enhancing substances (Kordt, 2009). According to a recent study, 13.8% of Swiss university students are experienced with NE (Maier et al., 2013). Threats to public health • NE + stress...

Background Neuroenhancement is the use of substances by healthy subjects to enhance cognitive or affective functioning. Possible side-effects and long-term effects of substances for neuroenhancement are not yet investigated. While stress at work and in education is likely to become a public health problem, several studies investigated a relations...

Background: Nightlife activities are becoming more and more popular in Switzerland and recreational drug use is common among a part of the partygoers. Method: Different nightlife prevention and harm reduction offers such as information desks at parties, peer education, and Drug Checking centers facilitate brief interventions with recreational drug...

Background: Neuroenhancement is the use of psychoactive substances by healthy subjects to improve cognitive function or mood. The prevalence of neuroenhancement among Swiss university students is unknown. Method: Students at the Universities of Zurich and Basel and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich were invited by E-mail to particip...

Ausgangslage: Die Nutzung des Internets als Medium zur Informationsgewinnung hat in den vergangenen Jahren stark zugenommen. Die Entwicklung der damit verbundenen digitalen Kommunikation eröffnet neue Möglichkeiten für Dienstleistungen der Suchthilfe. Verschiedene Institutionen bieten bereits webbasierte Beratungsformen oder Selbsthilfetools im Int...

Neben Alkohol, Tabak und Cannabis gehören Stimulanzien zu den meist konsumierten psychoaktiven Substanzen im Nachtleben. Die Auswertung von Daten zu Freizeitdrogenkonsumierenden, die im Rahmen von Schweizer Nightlife-Präventionsangeboten sowie Drug Checking erhoben worden sind, zeigen, dass der Konsum von Kokain, Amphetamin und Ecstasy sowie der Mi...

In verschiedenen internationalen und europäischen Studien konnte gezeigt werden, dass ein nennenswerter Anteil der Studierenden schon einmal verschreibungspfl ichtige Medikamente oder andere psychoaktive Substanzen eingenommen hat, um damit eine direkte oder indirekte Verbesserung der Gehirnleistung zu erzeugen. Eine erste Studie an drei Schweizer...

Neuro Enhancement bezeichnet die Einnahme von Medikamenten oder (psychoaktiven) Substanzen zur kognitiven Leistungssteigerung oder Stimmungsaufhellung. Bisher sind in der Schweiz nur wenige Studien zu dieser Thematik durchgeführt worden, die keine objektiven Daten liefern und keine Generalisierung der Resultate erlauben. Das Ziel der Machbarkeitsst...