More "at risk" young people using designer drug 3-MMC despite 2021 ban
Vulnerable young people have used the designer drug 3-MMC more in recent years, despite the Netherlands banning it in 2021. Laughing gas use is still high but decreased in nearly half the groups of “at risk” young people studied, the Volkskrant reports based on a study by researchers from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA).
According to Ton Nabben of the HvA, this study is a “mirror” of research he conducted into drug use in the nightlife scene. “There it is much more about students and people with a theoretical education. Here, a significant number of young people grew up in problematic families, in bad neighborhoods, and with all kinds of risk factors.” The study isn’t representative of all young people in the Netherlands, but it is representative of at risk young people - young people who face a variety of problems.
The researchers interviewed professionals like youth and community workers who are in close contact with a total of 1,000 at risk young people spread across 29 groups in ten provinces. They found that alcohol and cannabis are used in each one of the groups. Nicotine is almost just as prevalent (used in 28 groups), followed by laughing gas (23) and ecstasy (22).
Fifteen or more of the studied groups of young people use cocaine (17), 3-MMC (16), and amphetamine (15). Ketamine (14), psychedelics (11), and prescription drugs (10) are used by ten or more. GHB (7), base coke (6), heroin (4), and methamphetamine (2) are the least popular.
According to Toine Pieters, a pharmacologist and science historian at Utrecht University, the increased use of 3-MMC among vulnerable young people isn’t hard to explain. “3-MMC falls under the cheaper drugs, and ultimately, it concerns young people who mainly look at the price,” he told the Volkskrant. “The problem is that the effect is relatively short-lived, so there is a tendency among young people to take several doses in succession.”
A lack of enforcement is why the 2021 ban hasn’t decreased the use of this designer drug, he thinks. A previous study by the Trimbos Institute among the nightlife crowd showed its use has tripled since 2020. “The majority of the investigative capacity is focused on cocaine and methamphetamine and on breaking up those laboratories. MDMA is also on list 1 of the Opium Act, but that does not mean that there aren’t enormous amounts of MDMA in circulation.” 3-MMC is on list 2 of the Opium Act.