Abstract
BACKGROUND: Recent years have witnessed an increase in the incidence of new psychoactive substances (NPS), or also the so-called "legal highs" on the market, and increase of their use in the general population (Winstock and Ramsey , 2010). The use of such substances poses a threat to the individual and public health (EMCDDA, 2010).
This paper presents the results of research which had as main objective to analyse (i) NPS how users perceive the risks associated with their use, and (ii) what strategies are used by NPS users to avoid risks that may be associated with the use of thereof. DATA AND METHODS: The research was a qualitative content analysis of online discussion fora associating NPS users (16 fora with a total of 832 posts) and qualitative analysis of interviews with 9 NPS users; in the analysis, the method of grounded theory was used.
RESULTS: Regarding the perception of risk, there is a group of users who perceive the risk of these substances as low, as a result of their "legal" status that they take as a signal about of their weak effects. The perception of risk changes in the course of using NPS and users who previously underestimated NPS start to behave more cautiously based on their own experience or the experience of their surroundings, and the for a contributors.
The tools to reduce NPS risk were as follows: titrating the NPS dose in small amounts (especially at first use), selecting appropriate setting, and trying not to combine NPS with other psychoactive substances and other NPS. An important risk minimisation tool overall has been to find all the relevant information before using substance.
CONCLUSIONS: The official sources of information were not considered as reliable by the NPS users, the information provided by the sellers of particular substances was considered as insufficient. The most used and relevant sources of information were online discussion fora associating NPS users, and experiences of friends and acquaintances.