Acute recreational drug and ethanol poisoning among adolescents: An observational study from Oslo, Norway 2014-2023

To keep track on trends and changes over time, we describe drugs taken, clinical course, and incidence of recreational drug and ethanol poisoning among adolescents in Oslo, Norway, from 2014 to 2023.

We included all patients ≤ 20 years presenting to the city's main emergency primary care clinic with recreational drug poisoning in 2014-2023, from 2018 also including sole ethanol poisoning. Data were retrospectively collected from local patient records. Incidences were estimated per 1000 inhabitants in Oslo aged 10-20 years per year.

There were 1209 recreational drug poisonings, 51.1 % among girls. Cannabis was taken in 37.1 % of the cases, benzodiazepines in 22.2 %, heroin in 17.1 %, cocaine in 14.6 %, amphetamine in 13.1 %, and methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in 12.2 %. More than one drug was taken in 406 (33.6 %) cases. There were 1675 sole ethanol poisonings, 59.9 % among girls. During the pandemic years 2020 and 2021 there was a temporary decrease in the incidence of sole ethanol poisoning, accompanied by an increase in recreational drug poisoning. Otherwise, the incidences were stable, except a marked increase for recreational drugs in 2023: recreational drug poisoning 1.20 (95 % CI 0.97-1.50) in 2014 and 3.55 (3.16-3.99) in 2023; sole ethanol poisoning 3.94 (3.50-4.42) in 2018 and 3.96 (3.54-4.42) in 2023. The incidence of recreational drug poisoning among girls were lower than among boys early in the study period, but higher from 2021.

Recreational drug poisoning in Oslo among adolescents was dominated by ethanol, cannabis, benzodiazepines, and heroin.