Does illicit amphetamine seizures quantity associated with amphetamine use disorder related admissions in Saudi...

Illicit amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) trafficking activities have increased substantially in Saudi Arabia over the last 10 years. In the period 2013-2017 Saudi Arabia seized the largest quantities of amphetamine at the global level. The current study examines whether the increased quantity of ATS seizures has an impact on amphetamine use disorder admissions.

This is an ecological study combining two datasets, the first dataset was obtained from United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the Al-Amal Hospital Electronic Health Record System in the city of Dammam, Eastern region of Saudi Arabia from 2005 to 2018. The annual incidence of patients diagnosed with amphetamine use was the dependent variable. The independent variable was the annual reported count of seized quantities of ATS in Saudi Arabia. We used a random intercept Negative Binomial model to predict the yearly count of amphetamine use disorder admission rates.

A total of 910 amphetamine disorder admission patients in Al-Amal rehabilitation and addiction center, and the quantity equivalent to 200 tons of ATS was seized from 2005 to 2018. The amphetamine disorder admission rate has increased from 1.33% in 2005 to 18.27% in 2018. For each one-unit increase in the amphetamine confiscated quantities, the amphetamine use disorder admission rate increased by 49 to 88%.

The current study found that reported amphetamine seized quantities were significantly and positively associated with the increase of amphetamine use disorder-related admission rates. In 2018, both ATS seized quantities and admission rates significantly increased, nearly doubling from the previous year. Rigorous, and multidisciplinary interventional studies to evaluate factors associated with increasing abuse of ATS should be a priority for policymakers and researchers in Saudi.