Understanding the health impacts of the COVID-19 response on people who use drugs in Scotland is a research project that aims to understand the longer-term health impacts of the social response to COVID-19 on people who use drugs. The project involves researchers from the Universities of Stirling and Edinburgh. Some of our team looked at online drug markets, and some of us spoke to people who use drugs across Scotland.

COVID has made life worse for some people who said they found it harder to get help, and that their mental health has been worse. For others, the social changes caused by COVID have given them a chance to get into services for the first time and address their drug use and recovery.