Sustained effects of a community-based intervention targeting illicit drugs in nightlife: A 20-year cross-sectional follow-up of ‘Clubs against Drugs’

Background

Swedish law states that any handling or use of narcotics, including cannabis, is illegal. Nightlife is known to have high concentrations of illicit drug use and related problems. ‘Clubs against Drugs’ was implemented in 2003 and is a community-based, multi-component prevention program targeting illicit drug use and problems in licensed premises. Previous studies of the program have demonstrated improvements in staff interventions over time.

Aims

The study evaluated the long-term effects of the program on staff intervention frequency rates of dealing with obviously drug intoxicated patrons.

Methods

Cross-sectional data was collected in 2023 and compared to earlier assessments conducted in 2003, 2004, and 2008. Three teams, each consisting of two actors and three observers, visited licensed premises with doormen and open until 1 am or later in Stockholm city, Sweden on weekends. Professional male actors (pseudo-patrons) were trained by an expert panel to enact three standardized scenes of intoxication by stimulant drugs.

Results

In 2023, a total of 137 visits were made. The results reveal an intervention rate of 56.9 % [CI 0.49—0.65] which is considerably higher than the 7.5 % [CI -0.01—0.16] at baseline (p < 0.001). However, the rate was lower than that at the 2008 follow-up (65.5 % [CI 0.53—0.78]), although the difference was not statistically significant (p < 0.28).

Conclusions

The effects of the ‘Clubs against Drugs’ program has been sustained for over 20 years indicated by the high level of staff interventions targeting obviously drug-intoxicated patrons, suggesting consistency in the work with different components of the preventive program.