COVID-19 and the drug situation in Lithuania

• Authors: Evelina Pridotkienė , Rūta Gedminienė , Rasa Povilanskienė , Brigita Rašimaitė , Viktorija Stifanovičiūtė

Abstracts

EN

The application of restrictive public health measures because of COVID-19 has affected all areas of life, including drug use, drug market, and the response of law enforcement and health, education, and social care institutions to the drug phenomenon. In Lithuania students who used psychoactive substances irregularly were more likely to reduce the use of these substances or abstained during quarantine. However, those who used these substances regularly increased the use during quarantine. The provision of harm reduction services was not interrupted, but the package of health services was reduced. There were disruptions in the number of clients entering treatment. Participation in the Early Intervention Programme in Lithuania for young people who are experimenting with alcohol or drugs increased but did not reach the pre-pandemic level. The pandemic also affected workplace-based prevention. The drug market situation remained stable, although the number of the quantities seized indicated some annual variations, caused by changes in supply and demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords

EN

COVID-19 pandemic; psychoactive substance use; drug prevention; drug treatment; drug supply; Lithuania

• Publisher: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego
• Journal: Journal of Geography, Politics and Society
• Year: 2022
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 28-41

Dates

published

2022

Contributors

author

Evelina Pridotkienė

• Drug, Tobacco and Alcohol Control Department, REITOX network national focal point, Vilnius, Lithuania

author

Rūta Gedminienė

• Drug, Tobacco and Alcohol Control Department, REITOX network national focal point, Vilnius, Lithuania

author

Rasa Povilanskienė

• Drug, Tobacco and Alcohol Control Department, REITOX network national focal point, Vilnius, Lithuania

author

Brigita Rašimaitė

• Drug, Tobacco and Alcohol Control Department, REITOX network national focal point, Vilnius, Lithuania

author

Viktorija Stifanovičiūtė

• Drug, Tobacco and Alcohol Control Department, REITOX network national focal point, Vilnius, Lithuania

References

• EMCDDA, 2019, European Prevention Curriculum (EUPC). A handbook for decision-makers, opinion-makers and policy-makers in science-based prevention of substance use, European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/system/files/publications/11733/20192546_TDMA19001ENN_PDF.pdf.
• EMCDDA, 2020a, European Drug Report 2020: Trends and Developments, European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/system/files/publications/13236/TDAT20001ENN_web.pdf (accessed on 12 April 2022).
• EMCDDA, 2020b, Impact of COVID-19 on patterns of drug use and drug related harms in Europe, European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Lisbon, https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/system/files/publications/13130/EMCDDA-Trendspotter-Covid-19-Wave-2_1. pdf (accessed on 12 April 2022).
• Lietuvos..., 2021, Socialinės apsaugos ir darbo ministerijos 2020 metų veiklos ataskaita (Eng. 2020 annual report of the Ministry of Social Security and Labour), Lietuvos respublikos Socialinės apsaugos ir darbo ministerija, Vilnius, https://socmin.lrv.lt/uploads/socmin/documents/ files/ataskaitos/sadm/SADM%202020%20metu%20veiklos%20ataskaita%20-2021-03-18.pdf (accessed on 12 April 2022).
• Narkotikų..., 2020a, Aukštųjų mokyklų studentų psichoaktyviųjų medžiagų vartojimo paplitimas ir prevencija (Eng. Prevalence of Psychoactive Substance Use and Prevention among High School Students), Narkotikų tabako ir alkoholio kontrolės departamentas, Vilnius, https://ntakd.lrv. lt/uploads/ntakd/documents/files/PREVENCIJA/studentai.pdf (accessed on 12 April 2022).
• Narkotikų..., 2020b, Psichoaktyviosios medžiagos: tendencijos ir pokyčiai 2020 (Eng. Psychoactive substances: trends and developments 2020), Narkotikų tabako ir alkoholio kontrolės departamentas, Vilnius, https://ntakd.lrv.lt/uploads/ntakd/documents/files/46791%20NTAKD%20 metinis%20pranesimas%20web.pdf (accessed on 12 April 2022).
• Narkotikų..., 2021a, Psichoaktyviosios medžiagos: tendencijos ir pokyčiai 2021 (Eng. Psychoactive substances: trends and developments 2021), Narkotikų tabako ir alkoholio kontrolės departamentas, Vilnius, https://ntakd.lrv.lt/ uploads/ntakd/documents/files/Psichoaktyviosios_medziagos_tendencijos_ir_pokyciai_2021.pdf (accessed on 12 April 2022).
• Narkotikų..., 2021b, Psichoaktyviųjų medžiagų vartojimo prevencijos darbo vietose poreikis (Eng. Psychoactive substance use prevention needs assessment in workplaces), Narkotikų tabako ir alkoholio kontrolės departamentas, Vilnius, https://ntakd.lrv.lt/uploads/ntakd/documents/ files/PREVENCIJA/DV/NTAKD_DV_2021_tyrimas.pdf (accessed on 12 April 2022).
• Narkotikų..., 2022, Ankstyvosios intervencijos programos įgyvendinimo 2021 m. ataskaita (Eng. Report on the Early Intervention Programme implementation in 2021), Narkotikų tabako ir alkoholio kontrolės departamentas, Vilnius, https://ntakd.lrv.lt/uploads/ntakd/documents/ files/Ankstyvosios%20intervencijos%20programos%20 2021%20m_%20%C4%AFgyvendinimo%20ataskaita.pdf (accessed on 12 April 2022).
• Psichotraumatologijos..., 2020, Mokinių psichologinė savijauta COVID-19 pandemijos metu (Eng. Research-based recommendations for schools and schoolchildren: Psychological well-being of schoolchildren during the COVID-19 pandemic), Psichotraumatologijos institutas, Vilniaus Universitetas, Vilnius, https://www.fsf.vu.lt/dokumentai/ PTC/Rekomendacijos_mokykloms_ir_mokiniams.pdf (accessed on 12 April 2022).
• Švietimo ..., 2021, Švietimo, mokslo ir sporto ministerijos 2020 metų veiklos ataskaita (Eng. 2020 annual report of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports), Švietimo, mokslo ir sporto ministerija, Vilnius, https://smsm.lrv.lt/ uploads/smsm/documents/files/veikla/Ministerijos%20 veiklos%20ataskaitos/%C5%A0vietimo%2C%20mokslo%20ir%20sporto%20ministerijos%202020%20m_%20 veiklos%20ataskaita.pdf (accessed on 12 April 2022).
• Valstybinis…, 2019, ASSIS 2019 m. mėnesinė ataskaita (Eng. 2019 ASSIS monthly report), Valstybinis psichikos sveikatos centras, Vilnius, https://vpsc.lrv.lt/uploads/vpsc/documents/files/Info_ASIS_naudotojams/ASIS%202019%20M%C4%97nesin%C4%97.docx https://vpsc.lrv.lt/lt/infoasis-naudotojams (accessed on 13 April 2022).
• Valstybinis…, 2020, ASSIS 2020 m. mėnesinė ataskaita (Eng. 2020 ASSIS monthly report), Valstybinis psichikos sveika - tos centras, Vilnius, https://vpsc.lrv.lt/uploads/vpsc/docu - ments/files/Info_ASIS_naudotojams/ASIS%202020%20 M%C4%97nesin%C4%97.docx (accessed on 13 April 2022).
• Valstybinis…, 2021, ASSIS 2021 m. mėnesinė ataskaita (Eng. 2021 ASSIS monthly report), Valstybinis psichikos sveika - tos centras, Vilnius, https://vpsc.lrv.lt/uploads/vpsc/documents/files/Info_ASIS_naudotojams/ASIS%202021%20 M%C4%97nesin%C4%97_nauja_2021_09_27.docx (accessed on 13 April 2022).

Identifiers

DOI

10.26881/jpgs.2022.1.05

Biblioteka Nauki

2195712