Drugs of Abuse and Novel Psychoactive Substances at Outdoor Music Festivals in Colorado

Background: Drugs of abuse (DOA) are widely used in the United States and are ubiquitous at outdoor music festivals. Attendees at music festivals are at high-risk for novel psychoactive substance (NPS) use, which is becoming more prevalent worldwide. No U.S. studies have employed an qualitative approach to investigate the etiologies of both traditional DOA and NPS use amongst music festival attendees. Objectives: The objective of this study was to improve understanding of the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices of festival attendees using NPS and DOA. Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews of 171 attendees during the Sonic Bloom and Arise music festivals in Colorado in 2015 and 2016. Discrete variables were summarized with descriptive statistics. The anonymous, multi-domain interview documented the knowledge, attitudes beliefs, and practices underlying DOA use, which were analyzed with qualitative methods. Results: We enrolled 171 participants that endorsed DOA use at the festivals. Most were experienced DOA users, who perceived minimal risks associated with DOA and NPS use. Nearly all unanimously reported normalization of DOA at music festivals. Participants popularly cited empathogenic, entactogenic, and entheogenic effects of DOA as their primary motivations for use. NPS use was endorsed by 39.8% (n = 68) of respondents, all of whom identified as being experienced DOA users. Conclusions: This population of novel psychoactive substance users is primarily composed of experienced drug users that endorsed use because of low cost, minimal perceived risk, accessibility, and normalization of drug use at music festivals.