EDM party-goers at high opioid dependence risk

• EDM party goers are known to use many drugs

• They also misuse opioids like heroin

• The dance party goers are always at a higher risk of using drugs

Not just common party drugs like ecstasy, more and more electronic dance music (EDM) party attendees are misusing opioids like heroin, researchers claim.

Opioid use has grown to epidemic proportions in the US and has been the main contributor to a resurgence of heroin use as well as the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C, the team from New York University said.

Party goers are misusing opioids like heroin. Pixabay

"We've always known that electronic dance music party attendees are at high risk for use of club drugs such as ecstasy or Molly, but we wanted to know the extent of opioid use in this population," said Joseph Palamar, Associate Professor at New York University.

"This population of experienced drug users needs to be reached to prevent initiation and continued use, which can lead to riskier and more frequent use, dependence, and deleterious outcomes such as overdose – particularly if opioids are combined with other drugs," Palamar added.

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To reach this conclusion, the researchers surveyed 954 individuals (ages 18 to 40) about to enter EDM parties at nightclubs and dance festivals in New York City. Attendees were asked about the use of 18 different opioids — including OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin, codeine, fentanyl and heroin.

these drugs are causing health issues like HIV and hepatitis C. Wikimedia Commons

The researchers found that almost a quarter (23.9 per cent) of EDM party attendees have used opioids non-medically in their lifetime and one out of 10 (9.8 per cent) did so in the past year. IANS