Who uses digital drugs? An international survey of ‘binaural beat’ consumers

• Published in: Drug and alcohol review 2022-07, Vol.41 (5), p.1126-1130
• Main Authors: Barratt, Monica J., Maddox, Alexia, Smith, Naomi, Davis, Jenny L., Goold, Lachlan, Winstock, Adam R., Ferris, Jason A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Altered states; Consumers; Cross-sectional studies; cross‐sectional study; Demography; Drug abuse; Drugs; Emotional states; hallucinogen; illicit drug; Immediate; Marijuana; Mobile phones; Motivation; music; Polls & surveys; Psychedelic drugs; sound
• ISSN: 0959-5236; 1465-3362
• DOI: 10.1111/dar.13464

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