Identifying New/Emerging Psychoactive Substances at the Time of COVID-19; A Web-Based Approach

COVID-19-related disruptions of people and goods' circulation can affect drug markets, especially for new psychoactive substances (NPSs). Drug shortages could cause a change in available NPS, with the introduction of new, unknown, substances. The aims of the current research were to use a web crawler, NPSfinder^®, to identify and categorize emerging NPS discussed on a range of drug enthusiasts/psychonauts' websites/fora at the time of the pandemic; social media for these identified NPS were screened as well. The NPSfinder^® was used here to automatically scan 24/7 a list of psychonaut websites and NPS online resources. The NPSs identified in the time frame between January and August 2020 were searched in both the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addictions (EMCDDA)/United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) databases and on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube) as well, with a content qualitative analysis having been carried out on reddit.com. Of a total of 229 NPSs being discussed at the time of the pandemic, some 18 NPSs were identified for the first time by the NPSfinder^®. These included six cathinones, six opioids, two synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs), two phenylcyclohexylpiperidine (PCP)-like molecules, and two psychedelics. Of these NPSs, 10 were found to be previously unreported to either the UNODC or the EMCDDA. Of these 18 NPSs, opioids and cathinones were the most discussed on social media/reddit, with the highest number of threads associated. Current findings may support the use of both automated web crawlers and social listening approaches to identify emerging NPSs; the pandemic-related imposed restrictions may somehow influence the demand for specific NPS classes.

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has been considered as the worst global crisis after the global financial crash of 2007–2008 (1–3). This was caused by massive disruptions in goods' markets and restrictions imposed on individuals' movements (home confinement) followed by the total blocking of air and land travel (January–June 2020) (4). These primary measures generated a substantial economic burden at international, national, and community levels, forcing the general population to face psychological difficulties and behavioral changes (5–8). Of particular concern are people who use drugs (PWUDs) (9, 10). It is well-known how acute or chronic stress can have a pivotal role in the inception of substance abuse and in the worsening of substance use disorders (6, 11).

COVID-19 measures affected the illegal drug markets as well, from production, trafficking, and marketing through to availability and demand. These aspects have been affected in different ways across different countries, with the exception of the retail markets, which have undergone a more homogeneous change. Drug shortages, stockpiling, increase in prices, and reduction in purity were reported across the world (12). This was true especially for the more established drugs like cocaine and heroin, which are produced in specific areas of the world (e.g., South America and Afghanistan) and which rely on open legal commercial routes to be moved around (13). New psychoactive substances (NPSs) (14) encountered a different fate. A diversification of the market was expected between January and June 2020 (12, 15) due to shortages of treatment and classic opiate and opioid drugs (16) pushing users to synthetic available alternatives; lack of precursors for synthetic drugs diverting productions toward new NPS analogs; the economic problems and anxiety caused by the pandemic forcing PWUDs to use cheaper and seek more potent substances; and increased drug e-commerce that followed the restrictions of individual movements (12) facilitating the distribution of NPSs. The expected trend of PWUDs switching to and/or increasingly accessing counterfeit/unknown drugs online represents a serious health threat that should be investigated and monitored.

Monitoring of social media platforms could aid in identifying emerging NPSs during the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years, social media increased their popularity as interacting platforms, in which users and suppliers of drugs can communicate freely, e.g., about price, purity, pharmacological/toxicological effects, way of administration, dosages of substances, with particular regard to newly introduced/synthesized ones. The analysis of available online information [qualitative analysis (17)] can be an effective tool to understand and identify consumers' needs and decisions and markets supplies and demands' balance. Overall, “social media listening” has been proven to be an effective tool for public health concerns (18).

The aims of the current research were to use a web crawler, NPSfinder^®, to identify and categorize emerging NPSs discussed on a range of drug enthusiasts' websites/fora at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic; compare the NPSfinder^® results with related listings from the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addictions (EMCDDA) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) databases (19, 20); screen social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube) for identified NPSs; and conduct a qualitative analysis (reddit) to better understand the drug market at the time of COVID 19 pandemic.

Methods

Identification of Molecules

As better specified in Arillotta et al. (21), NPSfinder^® is a crawling/navigating, password-protected, proprietary software, which allows registered researchers only to screen and classify the molecules being identified. Indeed, NPSfinder^® automatically scans on a 24/7 basis a range of website addresses/uniform resource locator (URLs) for new/novel/emerging NPSs [see also (22, 23)]. When a novel substance is found, this is added to the growing NPSfinder^® database. NPSfinder^® was used here to facilitate identification of the range of NPSs discussed online from January to August 2020. Although one could argue that in January and February the European Union and the United States did not have any restrictions in place, the restrictions were at that time clearly in place in China (24), a country that has been suggested as being involved in the production/supplying of both synthetic drugs (NPSs) and synthetic drug precursors (4).

The scanned URLs were representative of online psychonauts' websites/fora and other NPS online resources (see Appendix 1). NPSfinder^® was designed by Damicom, an information technology enterprise based in Rome (Italy), to extract a range of information regarding NPSs including chemical and street names, chemical formulas, three-dimensional images, and anecdotally reported clinical/psychoactive effects. The data extracted were automatically stored in an online, restricted-access/password-controlled database. The predominant language was English, but other languages were also considered: Spanish, German, Russian, Italian, Dutch, French, Swedish, and Turkish. From all the data extracted by the web crawler, the range of unique NPSs being identified was assigned to their NPS class, according to the indications taken from a range of literature papers (25–27).

Comparison Between NPSfinder^®, EMCDDA, and UNODC Databases

To assess the possible novelty of NPSfinder^® findings, the NPS molecules here identified for the first time by web crawler at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic were compared with entries available from both the EMCDDA's European Database on New Drugs (19) and UNODC Early Warning Advisory on NPS database (20). JMC, a registered user with authorized access to these databases, prepared the listing for the comparison. The comparison was conducted using the International Chemical Identifier Key (InChIKey) (28, 29).

Social Networks' Analysis

In order to better understand the online overall scenario of those NPSs first identified by the web crawler at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, a range of social networks (e.g., Facebook; YouTube; Twitter; Instagram; Pinterest, reddit) were investigated as well. An observational qualitative analysis, in the time frame September–October 2020, was here performed, and these social networks were chosen because of their popularity, e.g., number of users. A similar approach has already been used by this research group in other studies (18, 21). A content qualitative analysis was conducted on reddit (30), which is a web-based platform that organize topics into fora known as subreddits, where each discussion is considered a thread. Reddit is well-known for its ability in engaging users and reporting good-quality information on a great variety of topics (30–33); these characteristics make this platform as a very popular source for social listening studies (34–37). Reddit fora entries are anonymous and voluntary. The subreddit called “r/Researchchemical” (38) was initially analyzed for the purpose of this article. “r/Researchchemical” is defined as the subreddit for the discussion of synthetic psychoactive research chemicals, also known as NPSs. When the threads were analyzed, the group had 94,000 members. The terms used for the search were the here newly identified substances, their chemical names, and street names. During the search, other subreddits were deemed relevant to the current study and were hence included in the qualitative analysis, e.g., “r/opiods.RCS,” “r/stims,” “r/noids,” and “r/dissociatives” (39–42). Two independent researchers, with different backgrounds in qualitative research, analyzed independently all the relevant threads. The dataset analysis was conducted manually without the use of any software. The subreddits were screened after the analysis of the data provided by NPSfinder^® was concluded and the new molecules identified; to allow optimal collection of qualitative data, no time restrictions were used for the reddit qualitative analysis.

Results

The NPSfinder^® web crawler has been active since November 2017 and to date reported a total of 4,335 NPSs found on the surface web. For this study, data were collected between January and August 2020. During this time frame, the web crawler identified a total of 229 substances (Appendix 2) as being discussed and commented by psychonauts; out of these, and after careful evaluation, 18 were recognized as previously unidentified and new to the NPSfinder^®. Proper categorization and descriptive statistics were produced for these 229 molecules (Table 1); most popular NPS categories being commented on included synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs), synthetic opioids, and cathinones.

TABLE 1

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of the 229 NPS identified from January to August 2020.

The 18 newly identified molecules, categorized in line with both Abdulrahim and Bowden-Jones (25) and Schifano et al. (26), included six cathinones, six opioids, two cannabimimetics, two phenylcyclohexylpiperidine-like substances, one hallucinogen, and one tryptamine. In order to understand if these molecules were not only new but unique to NPSfinder^®, a comparison with the UNODC and EMCDDA databases was made. As a result, 10 NPSs were identified as previously unknown/unreported (Table 2). For three of the six new cathinones (Table 2), no information on chemical structure or composition was available, and the molecules appeared here to be totally unknown.

TABLE 2

Table 2. List of NPS identified for the first time by NPSfinder^® from January to August 2020.

All the 18 molecules identified were identified across a variety of vendor sites (56–59). Only few hits were obtained by the analysis of Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest, whereas on Twitter 7 of these 18 molecules were identified and commented on. Of these, four were identified on the seller's profiles only (MFPVP, MD-PV8, 5F-NPB-22, and nortilidine): two in posts/discussions (A-PCYP, 4F-MDMB-BICA), and only one was mentioned within a trip report (1F-LSD). Three molecules (5F-NBP-22, MFPVP, Etazene) were found on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram on the sellers' profiles, and only one (3-Cl-PCP) was found on YouTube (e.g., within a trip report).

Conversely, the outcome of the qualitative analysis conducted on the subreddits for these 18 substances provided here more comprehensive results. Across all subreddits, threads were found for all but two of the 18 molecules (i.e., HEP and 5F-NPB22). The subreddit called “r/Researchchemical” included most threads for all the NPS classes, although opioids seemed to be discussed more often on their dedicated subreddit (“r/opiods.RCS”). Overall, the threads/posts relating to these NPSs were entered by redditors starting in a period that range from 2018 to beginning of 2020; whenever possible, the first data post was here identified and analyzed. Overall, older threads were found to be less informative (e.g., in terms of effects, toxicity, dosage, and ways of administrations) than most recent ones. The threads focusing on trips, effects, and routes of administration seemed to attract the most interest, whereas most popular NPSs included opioids and cathinones, followed by PCP-like molecules and psychedelics.

The total number of threads focusing on opioids was 188, of which 84 were on brorphine and 85 on etazene. The oldest thread related to diphenpipenol and was dated August 2019, whereas most recent threads focused on both brorphine and etazene. Etazene presented with the highest number of posts associated with a thread, followed by brorphine and fluonitazene. Among the opioid threads, the highest number of posts was identified as those discussing/comparing several synthetic opioids, with particular attention to tolerance and dosages (Table 3).

TABLE 3

Table 3. Most popular reddit threads for each of the NPS classes identified by the NPSfinder^® between January and August 2020.

The total number of threads identified for cathinones was 101, of which 70 threads were for A-PCYP only. The oldest thread was dated January 2019 for EBK-EBDP, whereas the most recent focused on MFPVP. Most posts were associated with A-PCYP, commenting on trip reports and effects and routes of administration (Table 3). For the two PCP-like molecules, a total of 21 threads were identified with discussions that started in March 2020. The highest number of posts related to 3-F-PCP (Table 3). Some 10 threads were associated with the psychedelics 1F-LSD and 5-Cl-DMT; related discussions started in January 2019 for 1F-LSD (Table 3). Finally, only five threads were here associated with SCRAs; related discussions started in August 2020, and the latest one in October 2020.

A selection of anecdotal data from the related subreddits referring to the 18 NPSs' availability, desired effects, side effects, routes of administration, onset of action, etc., is reported in Table 4.

TABLE 4

Table 4. Information gathered from the qualitative analysis of reddit.com for the 18 molecules identified by NPSfinder^®.

Discussion

The present article provided a unique insight into the world of the NPSs being discussed online at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results presented here for the activity of the NPSfinder^® web crawler showed the importance of the web as an essential source to understand and assess the NPS phenomenon (60). Indeed, previous research from our group (21–23, 61) showed how the overall numbers of synthetic cathinones, opioids, benzodiazepines, and SCRAs identified online since the launch of NPSfinder^® (November 2017) were higher than those reported to, and listed by, both the EMCDDA and the UNODC. Some 10/18 of the molecules here identified and commented online at the time of the pandemic were unknown/unreported NPSs (19), and this may highlight the potential of automated web crawlers to accurately describe the evolving drug scenarios.

The 18 molecules identified were distributed across the different NPS classes, roughly in line with international data (4, 62, 63). Conversely, in contrast with recent annual reports indicating an increase in designer/ “exotic” benzodiazepines' number, type, and availability (64, 65), these molecules did not feature here between those first identified by NPSfinder^® at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. One could, however, argue that with the COVID-related disruption of medical/health services (66–68), patients, as it has happened in the United Kingdom, may well have managed to get access to large prescription batches of prescription drugs, hence the decreased need to access the web for designer alternatives. Indeed, an increase in the consumption of prescription benzodiazepines has recently been reported (69). Of the 229 NPSs being discussed online at the time of the pandemic, however, synthetic opioids were featured just after SCRAs and were here one-third (e.g., 6/18) of those first identified by the web crawler at the time of the pandemic (49, 65).

While the data obtained from Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and other social media were few and could not be used here as a solid base for data interpretation, the parallel qualitative analysis conducted on subreddits seemed to have well-supported the web crawler findings. A massive interest toward synthetic opioids was confirmed by the analysis of reddit entries, and this may have paralleled the shortage of heroin (4, 16, 70–72).

The development of new synthetic opioids could worsen the already worrisome worldwide opioid crisis (73–75). NPS opioids are very powerful analgesics, characterized by severe adverse effects such as abuse liability and respiratory depression (21). Although none of the opioids first identified by NPSfinder^® at the time of the pandemic was a structural analog of fentanyl (76, 77), all potentially present with a similar threat to public health (63) and are reported to be far more potent than morphine (50, 54, 55). New synthetic opioids were derivatives of different chemical families, such as 2-benzylbenzimidazole and 1-substituted-4-(1,2-diphenylethyl)piperazines. Diphenpipenol, for example, presents with a similar strength to fentanyl, although was anecdotally reported here as “inactive” and “a total waste of money.” It is possible that, although advertised as diphenpipenol, the actual compound made available for purchase was one of its structural isomers with a much weaker opioid activity (78). The recent emergence of this group of opioids may suggest a step back from fentanyl, arguably as a result of control measures introduced in the United States and China in 2019 (51).

The synthetic cathinones' group was followed here in terms of popularity on reddit. Differently from the synthetic opioids, this result is slightly unexpected. In line with the increase reported in the number of newly identified cathinones for 2019 (63), three of the six cathinones identified as first discussed at the time of the pandemic were previously unknown. Furthermore, we recorded here an intense increased vendors' activity to possibly counteract, with cathinones, the threatened/expected shortage of cocaine (13). However, the possible presence on the market of these new compounds is a reason of concern, because of their well-known severe side effects (e.g., paranoia, cognitive impairment, hallucinations, violence, and suicidal thoughts) (79, 80) that could worsen existing depression and trigger low mood induced by COVID-19 (6).

Psychedelic and PCP-like molecules, despite being lower in number compared to the other chemical classes identified, were also discussed at the time of the pandemic. One could argue that these categories of drugs, indeed very popular within the psychonauts' niche scenario (81, 82), were self-administered in a private context, helping to evade the stress, discomfort, and uncertainties associated with COVID-19.

Limitations

It must be emphasized here that the NPSfinder^® crawling activity and the further manual analysis was conducted here only on the surface web. Further studies from our group will focus on the deep web and darknet, as there may be more information in the hidden web (83). Moreover, the present NPSfinder^® findings related mostly to psychonaut and vendor websites and may not represent the entirety of those NPSs debated/discussed/mentioned online. Furthermore, one could argue that of the 18 new NPSs identified here, only 10 were not in EMCDDA and UNODC databases at the time of the analysis, and hence only 10 were new. Conversely, as in previous articles (21–23), we thought that it was useful to provide the reader with comparison of current with existing data at the time of the analysis provided by reliable NPS databases such as the EMCDDA and UNODC. Although eight NPSs were already identified by these databases, they were discussed online by the psychonauts at the time of the pandemic, and hence they were grouped together with the “new” ones. Of course, because of a range of methodological differences, it may happen that not all the substances reported by the UNODC and the EMCDDA are identified by the NPSfinder, and vice versa (22). However, the evaluation of the NPSfinder performances was beyond the scope of the current article.

Regarding the qualitative analysis, one could argue that people posting on the subreddits may not be representative of the wide community of PWUDs or high-risk groups (e.g., homeless, individuals from deprived areas, adolescents/youth, etc.). Another limitation related here to the sole use of English as the language chosen for the reddit analysis; this may have been associated with levels of loss in data collection. Languages such as Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic were not here included in the NPSfinder^® searches, but this will occur in future works. Qualitative methods are at times generally questioned for reliability and objectivity. Finally, the analysis of data originating from the subreddits was conducted manually without the use of any ad hoc software, and this may have introduced levels of bias. To overcome this issue, two professionals separately analyzed here the data.

Conclusions

The analysis of the web presented here has a potential to identify a range of new and previously unidentified/unreported NPSs, with the chance of providing information on current drug trends. The ability of monitoring the net had been proven useful in detecting possible changes in the online drug markets that can reflect the real-world situation during such unprecedented times.

The 18 new NPSs identified in this study, and the related threads analyzed here, showed an appetite for synthetic drugs during a period of negative economic trend imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from the qualitative analysis on reddit confirmed how opioids represented the most discussed class of NPSs and the one that should keep getting more attention from international health and regulatory bodies. We noticed that while some of these opioids made their first appearance in redditors' discussions before COVID-19, related posts and experiences increased during the first semester of 2020. One could argue that present findings may be consistent with the observation that, in times of stress and crisis, PWUDs prefer drugs that can be used/experienced in solitude to escape the anxiety, boredom, uncertainty, and discomfort generated by the COVID-19 pandemic (84). Uncertainty and fear caused by this unprecedented crisis could push vulnerable people toward dangerous/risky behavior and increased drug consumption. Hence, entry into the drug markets of new and perhaps very potent NPSs is a clear reason of concern.

It is of interest that some of the emerging NPS molecules here described received the attention of redditors even a few months before the start of the pandemic; hence, further studies should combine the use of both web crawlers and social listening data to optimally identify drug scenarios' modifications. These studies, based on a thorough qualitative analysis of both psychonauts' fora and social media, should better assess not only the molecules mentioned by NPS enthusiasts, but also the users' understanding of the pharmacological characteristics of these same molecules.

Finally, the current findings indeed support and highlight the potential and added value of automated web crawlers such as the NPSfinder^® in scanning the web and retrieve data in an easy and time-effective way. At present, when a second wave of COVID-19 is generating further lockdown measures, it will remain to be seen if online drug sales and/or increased popularity of some NPSs will persist and influence future drug consumption patterns (63).

Data Availability Statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Author Contributions

VC and FS conceived the idea of the manuscript and coordinated the whole project. VC and DA carried out the process of both data collection and systematization. VC performed the literature searching, the analysis of data, and drafted the manuscript. JC provided data from the EMCDDA and UNODC databases for the purposes of this research. AV supervised the word done with NPSfinder^®. FS, AG, and JC contributed to the literature overview and the drafting of the paper. All authors contributed to the articles and approved the submitted version.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the NPSfinder^® web-crawler was provided by Damicon srl.

The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Damicom srl, a small enterprise from Rome (Italy), whose professionals have developed, under the supervision of AV and FS, the NPSfinder^® web crawler and so generously have allowed here the testing of its potential.

Supplementary Material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.632405/full#supplementary-material

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