More people in the Netherlands using designer drug 3-MMC on nights out

People are increasingly taking the drug 3-MMC on nights out. Usage of the designer drug has tripled between 2020 and 2023. There is also an increase in the usage of cocaine and XTC during a night out. Laughing gas is down in popularity, notes the Trimbos Addiction Institute.

The researchers asked just over 7000 people with ages ranging from 16 to 35 about their drug usage. One in three people surveyed admitted to having taken 3-MMC. In 2020, only nine percent of people asked. Trimbos is surprised by this, "mainly because this substance has been banned since October of 2021." One in twenty users takes the drug weekly. It is second only to cannabis in that percentage. When they use it, it is often several doses; more than half of the people take over three hits of 3-MMC a night.

The drug is distributed in either a crystal form or a crystalline powder. People who take it say they feel more energetic and confident than before taking it. It also leads to higher blood pressure and body temperature, a dry mouth, and dilated pupils, and it can cause someone to grind their teeth. Trimbos did not report why the drug has become so popular over the last few years.

A little more than half of the people surveyed, around 54%, reported that they had used XTC in the last year, which is up from 44 percent in 2020. The usage of cocaine has also risen from 26 to 33 percent. People who used cocaine or ketamine said they relatively often suffered from nasty side effects like a quick or irregular heartbeat, tiredness, and blood in the urine.

Furthermore, mephedrone (4-MMC) use increased from 6 percent to almost 17 percent. About 15 percent of respondents said they used laughing gas, compared to more than 35 percent in 2020. Roughly a quarter did not use drugs when going out, slightly less than in 2020.

On average, about one person dies daily from a drug overdose. There were 332 such deaths in 2022. Trimbos claims that the numbers have been rising since 2014. In around half of the deceased cases, it was due to opioids, like heroin or oxycodone. One in five people died from a cocaine overdose.