The purpose of the present study was to explore the temporal and spatial mapping of online information-seeking behavior concerning cannabis and psychedelics while conducting inferential time series analysis and examine if the pandemic influenced distinctive temporal-spatial patterns before versus during the pandemic. We opine that online search behavior could correlate with real-life behavior, or it can be anticipatory (predictive) for it. Therefore, the results we inferred can be of value for policymakers, legislators, and health authorities to prognosticate, mobilize human and technical resources, and antagonize a projected change in actual world behavior that favors the purchase and use of those illicit chemicals. The preemptive measures might be critical from an economic and healthcare perspective to promote better societal health while not burdening the healthcare infrastructure and resources during overwhelming addiction crises.

The Internet is currently the primary source of all knowledge regarding psychedelics: knowledge both scientific and, above all, acquired through one’s own experiences with those substances as described in numerous websites run and directed to users of these drugs [30]. The information available on the web includes detailed descriptions of psychedelics, instructions on production, sources of acquisition, the physiologic and psychedelic effects that these drugs produce, legal aspects, education on how to prevent the occurrence of dangerous consequences in users of these drugs, and all kinds of relevant information [31]. Therefore, it is not surprising that people interested in this topic consider the Internet a valuable source of knowledge in this area.

Concerning our study, the highest interest was towards the phenylethylamine derivative NBOMe (which acts similarly to LSD); it was already of great interest among users of psychedelics in 2014 [32]. Drugs in this group are usually sold in blotter or powder form under various names: “Smiles”, “N-Bombs”, “Solaris”, “Cimbi” or “25I”, “25B”, and “25C” [33]. These agents have drawn the attention of researchers due to their established position on the drug market both in Poland [34] and their widespread use in other regions of the world [33], causing numerous fatalities [35]. Before and during the pandemic, search indications for this specific substance were highest in all regions. The increase in popularity of NBOMe since before the pandemic might be due to the unclear legal situation concerning its availability on the European drug market and its increasing popularity for almost a decade, probably caused by the dissemination of information about its appearance, effects, and availability through online portals targeting users of these drugs [36,37].

Similarly, in the period preceding the pandemic and during its first months, information on cannabis derivatives was equally frequently searched in almost all provinces. According to research data, drugs from the cannabis group are the most popular among Polish users, so the high search indications correspond with data from user studies [15]. The provinces where low interest in drugs from this group included Opolskie (pre-pandemic) in addition to Lubuskie, Opolskie, and Warmińsko-Mazurskie provinces (post-pandemic); these results are in harmony with previous studies, wherein earlier years, low or marginal percentages of people admitted using the substance [38].

For another famous psychedelic, MDMA, some variation was evident in search frequency before and during the pandemic. We emphasize that in 2018–2019, indications of the use of MDMA suggested its low popularity; researchers estimated it at 0.2% in the general population (15–64 age group); further, researchers observed a decline in interest in MDMA in recent years [15]. In studies conducted during the pandemic, almost two-thirds (59%) of study participants admitted to using MDMA last year [39]. However, we cannot compare these data due to the heterogeneous sampling. Our results show an increase in the search for MDMA during the pandemic in all provinces, which may or may not correspond with data from the cited studies.

In the years preceding the pandemic, estimates of LSD use in the Polish population aged 15–64 indicated 0.5% of users [15]. During the pandemic (in November 2020), using the Computer-Assisted Web Interview (CAWI) technique, investigators deployed a survey targeting psychoactive drugs’ users; they distributed the survey via Facebook and Instagram, in its dissemination in a sample suitable for this research, and activists of the Social Initiative for Drug Policy and the Polish Network for Drug Policy, among others, participated. They collected 2373 correctly completed questionnaires and obtained consent to use the results; these surveys showed that nearly four in ten people had used LSD in the past year, suggesting an incremental interest in LSD use during a pandemic [39].

No differences existed in the search for information on DMTs in periods before and during the pandemic. In four provinces (Świętokrzyskie, Podlaskie, Opolskie, and Lubuskie), the interest in this agent was similar to the period before the pandemic. In the remaining regions, interest in this drug was relatively high. The interest in this psychedelic occurs not necessarily for its psychedelic properties, which persist for 30–60 min after ingestion, but rather for its use when combined with more complex psychedelic concoctions for a multi-hour psychedelic trip [40].

In most provinces, for some psychedelics, both extracted from mushrooms or plants (ibogaine, psilocybin, and ergine) and produced by synthesis or extracted from over-the-counter (non-prescription) drugs (ketamine, DOB, DXM, among others), there was low search interest on online sites in both periods. The collected results may confirm the low popularity of these drugs due to the not very pleasant side effects of use (e.g., vomiting, nausea, and torpor) [41].

Our study shows that the lowest interest among Internet users was for ibogaine, which, although included in the group of psychedelics, physicians more often recommended to manage opioid addiction, including opioid withdrawal syndrome [42]; hence, it is likely that there were low indications of searching for information about this psychedelic in most provinces in both periods.

Considering that the search scale for psychedelics due to the selected province can also be referred to previous measurements, which partly correspond to the presented results. During the Social Diagnosis 2015 measurement, a relatively low percentage of respondents (about 0.7%) confirmed drug use existed in several indicated regions (Świętokrzyskie, Lubelskie, and Podkarpackie) compared to others [38]. These provinces—before the pandemic—also had some of the lowest drug overdose mortality rates (0%, 0.09%, and 0.38%) [15].

The pandemic represents a state of social anomie, as its dynamic development led to restrictions and new regulations worldwide; these restrictions made many people fear the possibility of illness and death, economic crisis, and the uncertainty of the future [43], but they also adopted attitudes of rebellion or rejecting the possibility of danger [44]. Researchers also pointed to the possibility of interaction anomie arising from the limitations of interpersonal relationships while at the same time looking for ways not to be isolated after all [45,46]. Psychological stressors associated with the pandemic, influencing the confusion and focus on survival and avoidance of the disease, were primarily the strong impact of mass and social media reporting constantly on cases and deaths, new mutations of the virus, lack of vaccine (in the first year of the pandemic), the threat of economic recession, unemployment, and reduced quality of life. These caused severe anxiety and depressive states and even led to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [47,48,49]. Some may try to take advantage of the new circumstances to profit from trading rare goods. The pandemic, particularly the experiences and behaviors that accompany it, has led to the disintegration of existing rules within society while introducing new rules necessary to achieve new goals: survival, avoidance of infection, and maintenance of social order [50,51]. Concerning responses to anomie, we hypothesized that specific individuals might be more interested in searching web-based information concerning psychedelics, including teenagers and young college students, because actual drug use is a behavior frequently seen among adolescents and young adults per the World Drug Report [25].

Some survey data confirm that drug use increased during the pandemic [52,53]. Some data, however, indicate a decrease in use, explained by, among other things, less influence from the peer environment [54]. Research suggests that interest in psychedelics during the COVID-19 pandemic was related to the need to reduce depressive states, anxiety, and insomnia, with the study authors reporting no significant change in trends in psychedelic use [55]. On the other side, the pandemic period has had a significant impact on the increase in Internet activity globally, and spending time on the Internet has ceased to be one of the daily choices and has somewhat become a necessary compulsion [56]. For those interested in psychedelics, the Internet has proven valuable in acquiring the necessary information and a platform to trade psychedelics [57,58]. Further, researchers have highlighted the potential for using Internet-based drug search data to predict public health events; these data are cost-effective sources of insights because they are free, publicly available for research, and provide the opportunity to predict consumer behavior for these drugs [59].

Zaami et al. (2020) speculate that some people seeking access to psychedelics—due to impeded access in the real world—may have switched to seeking these drugs via online sites [60]. Groshkova et al. (2020) partially confirmed the assumptions mentioned before. During the first three months of the pandemic, researchers identified a 27% increase in sales of cannabis derivatives on darknet markets. The authors speculated that part of the drug market may have moved online, including encrypted darknet sites [58]. Other researchers at the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction have also confirmed higher Internet activity levels related to psychedelics’ online sale, especially cannabis derivatives and stimulants [57]. Researchers of this phenomenon observed mixed trends in psychoactive substance use. A study concerning German psychoactive drug users found that the pandemic had little effect on changing trends of substance access and use; only 2% of the sample obtained drugs online [61].

The authors of the European Drug Report consider that the drug market appeared to be very resilient to any pandemic-related difficulties, indicating at the same time that drug traffickers were quick to adapt to any pandemic-enforced constraints and lockdowns, e.g., by making use of Internet-based distribution options. One of the concerns raised by the report’s authors is that distribution channels for psychoactive drugs may remain in the virtual space for a long time. Available information allows us to note that drug consumption declined in the initial period of the pandemic but quickly returned to previous indications once pandemic-related restrictions were no longer obligatory. At the pandemic’s beginning, the decline was particularly in “recreational” drugs, including MDMA and amphetamines, while interest increased in psychedelics, including LSD, and substances with dissociative properties, such as ketamine, seen as more appropriate for use at home [62]. The ability to search the Internet for information on these drugs relates to our research.

The increase in popularity of some psychedelics in many regions of Poland may be related to the information appearing in opinion-forming magazines conveying experiences after this drug as mystical, instructive experiences [63,64]. In all likelihood, attitudes towards psychedelics can manifest in correspondence to mass culture products filled with numerous liberal descriptions, which can arouse curiosity and encourage people to try a particular drug [65]. It is also possible that the increase in searches for some psychedelics observed online during the pandemic was related to the need to seek help on the websites of counseling and support services for users of these drugs, where remote addiction treatment, harm reduction, and counseling services were made available during the pandemic [66]. These data, however, also require detailed verification.

In 2019 and 2022, Motyka and Al-Imam studied the etiology of psychoactive substances and psychedelic use; they have also investigated the relationship between musical preference and views on the use of drugs among youth and debated the representation of these substances in mass culture may influence the liberalization of attitudes towards their use [65,67,68]. Further, the representation of psychoactive drugs—including psychedelics—in mass culture may influence the liberalization of interest or attitudes towards drugs and their use; mass culture relates to films, music, literature, everyday products, e.g., food, clothes, and cosmetics, in addition to role models, including actors, musicians, and celebrities [65]. However, psychedelics enthusiasts also declared a specific interest in those chemicals other than adolescents and young adults, for instance, using psychedelics for a planned pre-mortem psychedelic trip in the elderly and those with debilitating conditions, including malignant tumors; most psychedelic users recommended using DMT before death, while others suggested tripping on LSD, psilocybin and psilocybin mushrooms, and NBOMe compounds [69]. Researchers also confirmed that psychedelic users have tendencies to abuse high authority [70].

During the pandemic, the augmented role of the Internet to search for psychedelics and their exponential abuse represents distinct social attributes; these attributes are also evident in EU members other than Poland and other regions of the world [60,61,71,72,73]. The temporary closure of borders due to the expanding COVID-19 pandemic was one of the reasons why the distribution of psychedelics shifted to online networks. The scarcity of classic street drugs was made difficult by limited transport between countries, the closure of entertainment centers (where users can purchase these drugs), and the prolonged need to stay indoors during the lockdown are other important determinants of the increased demand for different accessibility to psychedelics than before the pandemic. These phenomena have been observed, among others, in large cities in Northern Europe [60]. In a study conducted during the pandemic among Georgian psychoactive drug users, researchers found that one in four participants (25%) bought their drugs via the Internet [71]. During the first months of the pandemic, increased intensity of drug transactions on cryptomarkets was observed [72]. In addition, on the English-language Internet platform Reddit, which provides users with complete anonymity, already in the first six months of the pandemic, there was a significant increase in posts concerning any information related to the use of psychedelics: trade, production, use, and any other information related to this topic [73]. A survey of German psychedelic users noted that a shift to substitutes for known drugs bought through online sites might result from the gaps in existing access caused by pandemic restrictions. While this study did not find an increase in online drug transactions [61], as noted above, searching the Internet for information related to psychedelics does not necessarily imply a desire to purchase them. Surveys of psychedelic users have confirmed that some of them have used Internet-based services for, among other things, harm reduction resulting from the use of psychoactive substances and the difficult access to traditional forms of treatment during the pandemic [74].

Although the situation in Poland does not differ significantly from the results observed in other countries in the world, the results of the presented studies may confirm the observed trends in the growing importance of the Internet in searching for any information on psychedelics.

The results established in the presented research on the temporal and spatial variation of Internet searches for information on psychedelics—when made available to decision makers—can be used to determine appropriate strategies and countermeasures. The Ministry of Health can consider the results and design preventive interventions that integrate into the National Health Programs to prevent and treat addiction. In addition, the provision of data on the periodicity of psychedelic use may allow more precise planning of drug prevention and harm-reduction policies. If the work is valuable, it can be shared and adapted to design drug strategies in other regions of Europe and the world. Our methodology may apply in other similar studies, which may not only prove to be studies that test our methods but, in our opinion, may contribute to strengthening drug prevention interventions.