Who uses digital drugs? An international survey of ‘binaural beat’ consumers
- Barratt, Monica, Maddox, Alexia, Smith, Naomi, Davis, Jenny, Goold, Lachlan, Winstock, Adam, Ferris, Jason
- Authors: Barratt, Monica , Maddox, Alexia , Smith, Naomi , Davis, Jenny , Goold, Lachlan , Winstock, Adam , Ferris, Jason
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Drug and Alcohol Review Vol. 41, no. 5 (2022), p. 1126-1130
- Full Text:
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- Description: Introduction: Digital drugs, or binaural beats claimed to elicit specific cognitive or emotional states, are a phenomenon about which little is known. In this brief report, we describe demographic and drug use correlates of binaural beat use, patterns of use, reasons for use and methods of access. Methods: The Global Drug Survey 2021 was translated into 11 languages; 30 896 responses were gathered from 22 countries. Results: The use of binaural beats to experience altered states was reported by 5.3% of the sample (median age 27; 60.5% male), with the highest rates from the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom. Controlling for all variables, age and non-male gender predicted binaural beat use, as did the recent use of cannabis, psychedelics and novel/new drugs. Respondents most commonly used binaural beats ‘to relax or fall asleep’ (72.2%) and ‘to change my mood’ (34.7%), while 11.7% reported trying ‘to get a similar effect to that of other drugs’. This latter motivation was more commonly reported among those who used classic psychedelics (16.5% vs. 7.9%; P < 0.001). The majority sought to connect with themselves (53.1%) or ‘something bigger than themselves’ (22.5%) through the experience. Binaural beats were accessed primarily through video streaming sites via mobile phones. Discussion and Conclusions: This paper establishes the existence of the phenomenon of listening to binaural beats to elicit changes in embodied and psychological states. Future research directions include the cultural context for consumption and proximate experiences, including co-use with ingestible drugs and other auditory phenomena. © 2022 The Authors. Drug and Alcohol Review published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.
- Authors: Barratt, Monica , Maddox, Alexia , Smith, Naomi , Davis, Jenny , Goold, Lachlan , Winstock, Adam , Ferris, Jason
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Drug and Alcohol Review Vol. 41, no. 5 (2022), p. 1126-1130
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Introduction: Digital drugs, or binaural beats claimed to elicit specific cognitive or emotional states, are a phenomenon about which little is known. In this brief report, we describe demographic and drug use correlates of binaural beat use, patterns of use, reasons for use and methods of access. Methods: The Global Drug Survey 2021 was translated into 11 languages; 30 896 responses were gathered from 22 countries. Results: The use of binaural beats to experience altered states was reported by 5.3% of the sample (median age 27; 60.5% male), with the highest rates from the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom. Controlling for all variables, age and non-male gender predicted binaural beat use, as did the recent use of cannabis, psychedelics and novel/new drugs. Respondents most commonly used binaural beats ‘to relax or fall asleep’ (72.2%) and ‘to change my mood’ (34.7%), while 11.7% reported trying ‘to get a similar effect to that of other drugs’. This latter motivation was more commonly reported among those who used classic psychedelics (16.5% vs. 7.9%; P < 0.001). The majority sought to connect with themselves (53.1%) or ‘something bigger than themselves’ (22.5%) through the experience. Binaural beats were accessed primarily through video streaming sites via mobile phones. Discussion and Conclusions: This paper establishes the existence of the phenomenon of listening to binaural beats to elicit changes in embodied and psychological states. Future research directions include the cultural context for consumption and proximate experiences, including co-use with ingestible drugs and other auditory phenomena. © 2022 The Authors. Drug and Alcohol Review published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.
Detecting illicit drugs on social media using Automated Social Media Intelligence Analysis (ASMIA)
- Authors: Watters, Paul , Phair, Nigel
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics) Vol. 7672 LNCS, p. 66-76
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- Description: While social media is a new and exciting technology, it has the potential to be misused by organized crime groups and individuals involved in the illicit drugs trade. In particular, social media provides a means to create new marketing and distribution opportunities to a global marketplace, often exploiting jurisdictional gaps between buyer and seller. The sheer volume of postings presents investigational barriers, but the platform is amenable to the partial automation of open source intelligence. This paper presents a new methodology for automating social media data, and presents two pilot studies into its use for detecting marketing and distribution of illicit drugs targeted at Australians. Key technical challenges are identified, and the policy implications of the ease of access to illicit drugs are discussed. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.
- Description: 2003010676
- Authors: Watters, Paul , Phair, Nigel
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics) Vol. 7672 LNCS, p. 66-76
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: While social media is a new and exciting technology, it has the potential to be misused by organized crime groups and individuals involved in the illicit drugs trade. In particular, social media provides a means to create new marketing and distribution opportunities to a global marketplace, often exploiting jurisdictional gaps between buyer and seller. The sheer volume of postings presents investigational barriers, but the platform is amenable to the partial automation of open source intelligence. This paper presents a new methodology for automating social media data, and presents two pilot studies into its use for detecting marketing and distribution of illicit drugs targeted at Australians. Key technical challenges are identified, and the policy implications of the ease of access to illicit drugs are discussed. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.
- Description: 2003010676
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