Changes in Drug Use Patterns during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: Monitoring a Vulnerable Group by Hair Analysis

From 22 March until 18 May 2020, a complete lockdown in Italy was ordered as a countermeasure against the COVID-19 pandemic. Social isolation measures affect some populations morethan others, and people with drug and/or alcohol disorders (SUDs) are more likely to be adverselyaffected. This study presents, for the first time, laboratory data on the use of alcohol and drugs ina high-risk population during Italy’s first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thirty subjects withSUDs were monitored for the use of illicit drugs and alcohol every 3 months before, during and afterthe lockdown, by hair analysis. The number of samples positive for heroin, cocaine, MDMA andcannabis fell considerably during the lockdown and then resumed to pre-lockdown levels whenthe period of confinement was over. Interestingly, the consumption of benzodiazepines and alcoholfollowed the opposite trend; both the number of benzodiazepine-positive samples and the level ofalcohol consumption increased and remained high, even at the end of the lockdown. The confinementmeasures produced significant changes in drug/alcohol use patterns, with a shift toward the use ofsubstances that were more easily accessible, used as self-medication for negative feelings, and usedto alleviate the effects of abstinence from drugs that were no longer readily available.