People are more likely to try drugs in the summer: study

A new study, led by researchers at the NYU School of Medicine, found that teens and adults are more likely to try illicit or recreational drugs for the first time in the summer.

The study, published Tuesday in the JJournal of General Internal Medicine, found that 34% of recent LSD insiders had tried the drug for the first time during the summer, as well as 30% of marijuana insiders, 30% of those initiated with ecstasy and 28% insiders to cocaine.

Using data from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health, researchers examined 394,415 people over the age of 12 between 2011 and 2017. Participants were asked about their consumption of various drugs and the timing of their first attempt.

The researchers attribute these results to additional leisure time in the summer and the growing popularity of music festivals, where drug use is common.

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"Parents and educators who care about their children need to inform them all year round of the potential risks badociated with drug use, but special attention seems to be needed before or during the summer months, when the initiation rate is increasing, "Joseph Joseph Palama, senior research investigator and badociate professor in the population health department of the NYU School of Medicine, said in a press release.

If one decides to try drugs, Palamar recommends doing so around trusted friends who can help them if their body reacts negatively to drugs.

"New users may not be familiar with the effects of various drugs, so it's important to understand first when people are most likely to start having these behaviors," Palamar said.

According to the administration of Addiction and Mental Health Services of the United States, 3 million Americans in 2017 have tried LSD, marijuana, cocaine or ecstasy for the first time.

DOSSIER – In the April 20, 2016 archive photo, a man smokes a marijuana joint at a party celebrating the weed in Seattle.

AP