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Double dropping down under: Correlates of simultaneous consumption of two ecstasy pills in a sample of Australian outdoor music festival attendees.

Jodie Grigg, Monica J Barratt, Simon Lenton

Drug and Alcohol Review November 2018 DOI: 10.1111/dar.12843 (opens in new tab)

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AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Cross-sectional survey (web survey with multivariable logistic regression) Peer reviewed
Sample size 777
Population Australian festival-goers who used ecstasy at the last festival they attended; analytic sample 59% male, median age 20 years (IQR 19-23)
Topics MDMA
Keywords Double dropping Drug users Harm reduction Music festivals
Key findings Double dropping was reported by 48% of ecstasy pill users in association with their last festival. Greater odds of double dropping were associated with being younger, male, a more frequent ecstasy user, a more frequent festival-goer, preferring electronic dance music, attending a multi-day festival, and using ecstasy in pill form. The authors argue this practice may reflect historically low-dose Australian pills but that increasing MDMA purity and novel adulterants warrant harm-reduction and drug-checking services.

Abstract

The term 'double dropping' refers to a person consuming two drugs simultaneously, typically two ecstasy pills. This practice has been reported in numerous countries, including Australia; however, the prevalence and correlates of double dropping among ecstasy users is unknown. Double dropping is particularly risky when adulteration of 'ecstasy' with novel substances and higher dosages of MDMA in pure ecstasy pills have both been increasingly reported. This paper investigates the prevalence and correlates of double dropping in a purposive sample of Australian festival-goers who used ecstasy at the last festival they attended. A web survey was completed by almost 2000 Australian festival-goers. The analytic sample (n = 777) was 59% male and had a median age of 20 years (interquartile range 19-23). Almost half (48%) of respondents who used ecstasy pills reported double dropping in association with the last festival attended. Multivariable logistic regression found respondents who were younger, male, more frequent ecstasy users, more frequent festival-goers, had a preference for electronic dance music, attended a multi-day festival and used ecstasy in pill form were at greater odds of reporting double dropping at the last festival attended. Double dropping was a commonly reported practice among festival-goers in this purposive sample. While this practice may reflect historically low-dose ecstasy pills in Australia, the changing contexts of novel drugs and increasing MDMA purity may warrant consideration of harm-reduction interventions and drug-checking services which could help festival-goers make more informed decisions about drug dosage.

Comparable studies

Other cross-sectional and survey studies on MDMA, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Recreational MDMA use in Sydney: a profile of ‘Ecstasy’ users and their experiences with the drug Recreational Ecstasy users recruited via snowball peer network 1992 Cross-sectional survey n = 100
Reducedin vivobinding to the serotonin transporter in the cerebral cortex of MDMA (‘ecstasy’) users Male regular ecstasy users and well-matched controls 1999 Cross-sectional association study n = 20
Patterns of simultaneous polysubstance use in drug using university students Drug-using university students 2006 Cross-sectional survey n = 149
Patterns of recreational drug use at dance events in Edinburgh, Scotland Drug users at dance events in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, aged 16-47, 80% between 18 and... 2001 Cross-sectional survey n = 122
Acute, sub‐acute and long‐term subjective consequences of ‘ecstasy’ (MDMA) consumption in 430 regular users Regular MDMA users 2003 Cross-sectional study n = 466

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