Psychoactive substances, users and markets: recent trends (2017-2018)

The TREND scheme therefore provides a focus on people with high uses of psychoactive products. It is mainly based on qualitative data collected by the TREND sites network, located in eight metropolitan areas. 

This issue highlights the developments that have particularly marked 2017 and the beginning of 2018: 

• the impact of the unprecedented accessibility to cocaine, including in the form of crack cocaine,
• the fluidity between techno scenes and the crossovers of different party populations, 
• the increase in the visibility of GHB-GBL use in party settings with lots of incidences of intoxication, 
• the trivialisation of popper use in increasingly diverse user groups, 
• and finally, the slowing down of the emergence of new psychoactive substances (NPS), while their distribution seems to be focused on specific user profiles. 

The second part is about continuing phenomena that have already been described in previous years, but that are still thriving: the integration of "chemsex" practices, the popularity of ecstasy tablets, the increase in the availability and visibility of ketamine use and the dynamic heroin supply.