Chris Wilkins: Massey University Drug Researcher on the number of people using pharmaceuticals recreationally

There's a concern many people may not fully understand the risk of recreationally using pharmaceuticals. 

The 2024 New Zealand Drugs Trends Survey of more than 10,000 people shows more than a quarter of respondents use the drugs for non-medical reasons. 

It's also found a quarter of recent psychedelics users did so for therapeutic purposes. 

Author Chris Wilkins told Heather du Plessis-Allan many people believe, just because the drugs are pharmaceutical, it means there's a lower risk. 

He says many are similar to illegal drugs and are particularly more risky if mixed. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now it looks like a significant number of kiwis using
pharmaceutical drugs to party, or at least not for the
reason that the drugs are meant for. This is the
second set of findings from that big New Zealand Drug
Trend survey, and it's found four in one and four
kiwis are doing this with the old pharmaceuticals. Massive University
drug researcher Chris Wilkins is with us. Now, Hey, Chris,
good morning morning. What kind of drugs are we talking about?

Speaker 2 (00:23):
All kinds of drugs opioids, ADHD medications and also bends
that die depends on some of the most common and
what are they?

Speaker 3 (00:33):
What are people doing with them? Is this to have
a good time to get high?

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Well, I think it's important to keep in mind that
this is a really complex issue, so motivations for use
can vary from just even things like I can't get
to the doctor myself or I can't afford to go
to the doctor, so I've got medications hanging around all
the way through to as you said, supplementing illegal drug
use for purely recreational And how are people.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
Getting their hands on it? Is it that they're getting
it from their mates who've got ADHD pills prescribed to
them or what.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, this is very much kind of a network social
network supply issue. So nearly all of these drugs originally
came from legitimate pharmaceutical sources through the medical system, but
then they're just exchanged around within personal friend networks.

Speaker 3 (01:26):
Are you worried about them?

Speaker 2 (01:28):
I think so. I mean sometimes people can have a
false sense of security that they're using a pharmaceutical medication,
that it's lower risk. But some of these drugs, particularly
opioids and benzodiazepines, have a very high addiction potential, and
people just should be really aware that a lot of

(01:49):
these pharmaceutical drugs are very close to the legal drug variety,
and they should be aware that mixing drugs, in particular
with illegal drugs or for recreational purposes can result in
an increased risk.

Speaker 3 (02:03):
Chris, how much of this is being driven by the
fact that it is fashionable again to try things to
you open your mind up for you know, for I
guess therapeutic reasons.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yeah. One of the really interesting things we found this
year was that of the people that are saying they
were using psychedelics, a quarter of them said they were
using it for therapeutic reasons, and this is something that
is globally you may have heard of a lot of
countries are now adapting some of their psychology counseling to

(02:35):
allow use of psychedelics and controlled, supervised situations for some
mental health conditions. But I think there's been a long
standing kind of feeling within with psychedelic users that this
can increase well being, change their state of mind and
maintenance sea problems differently. So there's still a lot of

(02:58):
research to go with that, but there is positive findings
in terms of some types of mental illness under supervision,
psych alects can really help people.

Speaker 3 (03:07):
All right, Hey, Chris, thanks very much, really appreciated this.
Chris Wilkins, Massy University Drug researcher. For more from the
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