I-Trend Project overview: Internet tools for research in Europe on new drugs

Until now, most of our available knowledge on the NPS (new/novel psychoactive substance) phenomenon originated from traditional information systems on drugs and drug addiction (data on seizures and treatment demands, monitoring in a recreational setting, etc.). Meanwhile, the development of growing Internet supply, especially for NPS, makes it easy for users and substances to evade monitoring by these reporting systems. Therefore, new monitoring methods are required in order to study both supply and demand, to shed more light on the risks and challenges, and to allow stakeholders to better adapt their decision-making processes.
The general purpose of the I-Trend Project was to develop specific tools suited to monitoring trends in the NPS phenomenon, via Internet channels, in addition to existing information systems. The fields taken into consideration were supply (types of shops, dealer strategies, components of the substances sold, etc.), user profiles and purchasing practices, NPS use and information search patterns, points of interest among NPS users on online forums, and health problems reported by users. Identifying the most widely circulated and used substances (confusion with supply or relying on seizures, having proved to be a biased source, is common) took on a rather important role in the project as the first step for other activities, but also as an independent objective. Information on these specific substances was expected to be reported via technical folders.
I-Trend was developed in five countries offering a relevant overview of situations with diverse drug use profiles: two eastern countries, three western countries.