Controlled to uncontrolled drug use: the impact of Covid-19 among young people in the UK

The Covid-19 pandemic lockdown had a profound impact on British young adults’ drug using lives. Overnight, participants found themselves unable to access the protective mechanisms, specifically peer groups and routines on which they had come to rely to control and maintain pleasure with their drug use. The resulting analysis from online semi-structured qualitative interviews with 14 young people exposes a trend in drug use patterns. Substances that are easily intertwined in their daily lives and the conditions of lockdown, such as cannabis, alcohol, and cocaine were used more frequently and more habitually. Despite a perception of low risk due to prevalent use, these substances pose a heightened risk of dependency. In this article, I argue that because they were socially isolated and without protective mechanisms, such as peer support or daily routines, participants incorporated these drugs into their work-from-home regimes. This gave rise to a potential lack of control of their use. This insight contributes to enhancing a nuanced understanding of (un)controlled drug use among young people and the factors that influence this.