Background: In this article, we present an evaluation of online psychoactive substance trade via Telegram, a free encrypted social media messenger service. The evaluation took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed us to monitor the effects of the spring 2020 lockdown in the Netherlands on substance trade via Telegram. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate whether changes in psychoactive substance trade on Telegram markets in the Netherlands can be observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Between December 2, 2019, and June 29, 2020, a total of 70,226 posts appeared in two analyzed Telegram groups. A total of 5,643 posts were psychoactive substance related. Based on the analyzed posts, Telegram is mostly a ‘“sellers” market as only a minority of the posts (6.3%) could be identified as a request for a substance. The proportion of posts related to specific substances varied between the periods before, during, and after the lockdown. The proportion of posts on the stimulants ecstasy, cocaine, and amphetamine was lower during the lockdown than before and after. For psychedelics – ketamine, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-bromophenethylamine (2C-B) – and other substances, there was a relative increase in the number of posts during the lockdown, which was maintained after the lockdown. Conclusions: Telegram analysis shows that in the Netherlands, online psychoactive substance trade may have been affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. The direction of this effect was different for different classes of substances.
Eur Addict Res

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 大流行期间通过 Telegram 进行的在线精神活性物质交易的变化

背景：在本文中，我们通过 Telegram（一种免费的加密社交媒体信使服务）对在线精神活性物质交易进行了评估。评估是在 COVID-19 大流行期间进行的，这使我们能够通过 Telegram 监测荷兰 2020 年春季封锁对物质贸易的影响。目标：本研究的目的是评估在 COVID-19 大流行期间是否可以观察到荷兰 Telegram 市场上精神活性物质贸易的变化。结果：在 2019 年 12 月 2 日至 2020 年 6 月 29 日期间，两个经过分析的 Telegram 群组中总共出现了 70,226 个帖子。共有 5,643 个帖子与精神活性物质有关。根据分析的帖子，Telegram 主要是一个“卖家”市场，因为只有少数帖子 (6.3%) 可以被识别为对某种物质的请求。与特定物质相关的帖子比例在锁定之前、期间和之后各不相同。封锁期间有关兴奋剂摇头丸、可卡因和安非他明的帖子比例低于封锁前后。对于迷幻药——氯胺酮、麦角酸二乙胺 (LSD) 和 2,5-二甲氧基-4-溴苯乙胺 (2C-B)——以及其他物质，封锁期间的帖子数量相对增加，并在封锁后保持封锁。结论：电报分析表明，在荷兰，在线精神活性物质贸易可能在 COVID-19 大流行期间受到影响。对于不同类别的物质，这种效应的方向是不同的。
欧洲瘾君子研究