Double dropping down under: Correlates of simultaneous consumption of two ecstasy pills in a sample of Australian outdoor music festival attendees

Introduction and Aims: The term ‘double dropping’ refers to a person consuming two drugs simultaneously, typically two ecstasy pills. This practice has been reported in numerous countries, including Australia; however, the prevalence and correlates of double dropping among ecstasy users is unknown....

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Main Authors: Grigg, J., Barratt, Monica, Lenton, Simon
Format: Journal Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71483
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author Grigg, J.
Barratt, Monica
Lenton, Simon
author_facet Grigg, J.
Barratt, Monica
Lenton, Simon
author_sort Grigg, J.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Introduction and Aims: The term ‘double dropping’ refers to a person consuming two drugs simultaneously, typically two ecstasy pills. This practice has been reported in numerous countries, including Australia; however, the prevalence and correlates of double dropping among ecstasy users is unknown. Double dropping is particularly risky when adulteration of ‘ecstasy’ with novel substances and higher dosages of MDMA in pure ecstasy pills have both been increasingly reported. This paper investigates the prevalence and correlates of double dropping in a purposive sample of Australian festival-goers who used ecstasy at the last festival they attended. Design and Methods: A web survey was completed by almost 2000 Australian festival-goers. The analytic sample (n = 777) was 59% male and had a median age of 20 years (interquartile range 19–23). Results: Almost half (48%) of respondents who used ecstasy pills reported double dropping in association with the last festival attended. Multivariable logistic regression found respondents who were younger, male, more frequent ecstasy users, more frequent festival-goers, had a preference for electronic dance music, attended a multi-day festival and used ecstasy in pill form were at greater odds of reporting double dropping at the last festival attended. Discussion and Conclusions: Double dropping was a commonly reported practice among festival-goers in this purposive sample. While this practice may reflect historically low-dose ecstasy pills in Australia, the changing contexts of novel drugs and increasing MDMA purity may warrant consideration of harm-reduction interventions and drug-checking services which could help festival-goers make more informed decisions about drug dosage.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-714832019-07-11T05:58:47Z Double dropping down under: Correlates of simultaneous consumption of two ecstasy pills in a sample of Australian outdoor music festival attendees Grigg, J. Barratt, Monica Lenton, Simon Introduction and Aims: The term ‘double dropping’ refers to a person consuming two drugs simultaneously, typically two ecstasy pills. This practice has been reported in numerous countries, including Australia; however, the prevalence and correlates of double dropping among ecstasy users is unknown. Double dropping is particularly risky when adulteration of ‘ecstasy’ with novel substances and higher dosages of MDMA in pure ecstasy pills have both been increasingly reported. This paper investigates the prevalence and correlates of double dropping in a purposive sample of Australian festival-goers who used ecstasy at the last festival they attended. Design and Methods: A web survey was completed by almost 2000 Australian festival-goers. The analytic sample (n = 777) was 59% male and had a median age of 20 years (interquartile range 19–23). Results: Almost half (48%) of respondents who used ecstasy pills reported double dropping in association with the last festival attended. Multivariable logistic regression found respondents who were younger, male, more frequent ecstasy users, more frequent festival-goers, had a preference for electronic dance music, attended a multi-day festival and used ecstasy in pill form were at greater odds of reporting double dropping at the last festival attended. Discussion and Conclusions: Double dropping was a commonly reported practice among festival-goers in this purposive sample. While this practice may reflect historically low-dose ecstasy pills in Australia, the changing contexts of novel drugs and increasing MDMA purity may warrant consideration of harm-reduction interventions and drug-checking services which could help festival-goers make more informed decisions about drug dosage. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71483 10.1111/dar.12843 Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. restricted
spellingShingle Grigg, J.
Barratt, Monica
Lenton, Simon
Double dropping down under: Correlates of simultaneous consumption of two ecstasy pills in a sample of Australian outdoor music festival attendees
title Double dropping down under: Correlates of simultaneous consumption of two ecstasy pills in a sample of Australian outdoor music festival attendees
title_full Double dropping down under: Correlates of simultaneous consumption of two ecstasy pills in a sample of Australian outdoor music festival attendees
title_fullStr Double dropping down under: Correlates of simultaneous consumption of two ecstasy pills in a sample of Australian outdoor music festival attendees
title_full_unstemmed Double dropping down under: Correlates of simultaneous consumption of two ecstasy pills in a sample of Australian outdoor music festival attendees
title_short Double dropping down under: Correlates of simultaneous consumption of two ecstasy pills in a sample of Australian outdoor music festival attendees
title_sort double dropping down under: correlates of simultaneous consumption of two ecstasy pills in a sample of australian outdoor music festival attendees
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71483