Comments on Rehm and colleague’s hypothesis

In our daily practice we have not yet observed so far neither any increase of drug treatment demand nor a high number of COVID-19 infections amongst patients in addiction treatment, according to our data. Interpreting these results, we respond to Jürgen Rehm’s and colleges essay. They proposed two main scenarios with opposite predictions regarding the impact of the current crisis on the level and patterns of alcohol consumption.

We felt compelled to imagine not only what would happen if their hypothesis become true but also how this situation will unfold. Again we could forecast two somewhat opposite schemes regarding the resource demands for alcohol dependence patients during the medium and longer‐term pandemic: the first scenario would favour the reinforcement of specialized drug addiction centres to cope with this supposed increased alcohol consumption; the second scenario supports primary care centres.

We conclude that primary care centres should be the first reinforced.