What wastewater reveals about drug use in Hanoi, Vietnam with Phong Thai
Addiction Audio14 Marras 2025

What wastewater reveals about drug use in Hanoi, Vietnam with Phong Thai

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Phong Thai, an Associate Professor at Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, Australia. The interview covers Phong’s research article on a wastewater study measuring illegal drug use in Hanoi, Vietnam, to determine the feasibility of conducting wastewater analysis in a low-income country.

Note: The acronym ‘UNODC’ used in this episode stands for the ‘United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’.


  • Why looking at illegal drug use in Vietnam is important [01:07]
  • Wastewater analysis and its utility in a low-income country [02:00]
  • The biomarkers of focus [03:55]
  • Why the authors chose Hanoi, Vietnam, to pilot wastewater analysis in South East Asia [05:38]
  • Vietnam’s location and relation to drug trafficking in South East Asia [07:12]
  • The Golden Triangle [08:22]
  • The main findings of the study [08:48]
  • Ketamine’s rise in popularity in Vietnam [10:16]
  • The impact of COVID-19 on the consumption of drugs in Vietnam [11:18]
  • Why are synthetic drugs becoming more popular? [12:30]
  • The feasibility of conducting wastewater analysis in a low-income country [13:33]
  • The take-home messages of the study [15:34]


About Elle Wadsworth: Elle is an academic fellow with the Society for the Study of Addiction. She is based at the University of Bath with the Addiction and Mental Health Group and her research interests include drug policy, cannabis legalisation, and public health.

About Phong Thai: Phong is an ARC Mid-Career Industry Fellow and Associate Professor at Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS). His research focus involves the expansion of wastewater-based epidemiological approach to estimate community consumption and exposure to a range of legal and illegal substances (including tobacco and alcohol) and pharmaceuticals, as well as the monitoring of community infection to COVID-19 during the last pandemic. He is a member of the team who manage the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program in Australia and has helped pioneering wastewater drug monitoring in several countries.


Original article: Significant changes in preference of illicit drug use in a population of Hanoi, Vietnam – A 6-year wastewater study (2018–2023) https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70147


The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.

The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(136)

Chemsex trajectories among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men with Nikolay Lunchenkov

Chemsex trajectories among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men with Nikolay Lunchenkov

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Nikolay Lunchenkov, medical doctor, a global health specialist, and a doctoral candidate in Global Health at the Technical University of Munich, Germany....

10 Heinä 21min

Drug sellers' use of drug checking services with Pablo Gonzalez Nieto

Drug sellers' use of drug checking services with Pablo Gonzalez Nieto

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Pablo Gonzalez Nieto, a harm reduction provider, drug checking technician, and research assistant at Substance Drug Checking within the Canadian Institute f...

3 Heinä 21min

How state regulations shape kratom exposure and harm with Grant Comstock and Ryan Feldman

How state regulations shape kratom exposure and harm with Grant Comstock and Ryan Feldman

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim talks to Drs Grant Comstock and Ryan Feldman. Grant is an Assistant Professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Associate Medical Director of the Wisconsin Poiso...

26 Kesä 21min

Drug use related problems in Ethiopia with Tesfa Yimer

Drug use related problems in Ethiopia with Tesfa Yimer

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Tesfa Yimer, a postdoctoral researcher at the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research, The University of Queensland, Australia. The interview co...

19 Kesä 16min

Use and harms of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) with Amy Peacock and Krista Siefried

Use and harms of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) with Amy Peacock and Krista Siefried

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Amy Peacock, an Associate Professor and Deputy Director of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, and Dr Krista Si...

12 Kesä 23min

Swapping smoking for vaping in England with Vera Buss and Leonie Brose

Swapping smoking for vaping in England with Vera Buss and Leonie Brose

In this episode, Annika Theodoulou speaks to Dr Vera Buss, a Senior Research Fellow at University College London, and Professor Leonie Brose, a Professor of Addictions & Public Health at King's Colleg...

5 Kesä 11min

Economic effects of reducing consumption of unhealthy commodities with Damon Morris

Economic effects of reducing consumption of unhealthy commodities with Damon Morris

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Damon Morris, a Research Fellow in the Sheffield Addictions Research Group, School of Medicine and Population Health, at the University of Sheffield, UK....

29 Touko 17min

Deceptive design features of online gambling platforms with Philip Newall

Deceptive design features of online gambling platforms with Philip Newall

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim talks to Dr Philip Newall, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Bristol, UK. The interview covers Philip’s opinion and debate article on sludge, dark patterns and da...

22 Touko 25min

Suosittua kategoriassa Tiede

tiedekulma-podcast
rss-mita-tulisi-tietaa
rss-poliisin-mieli
filocast-filosofian-perusteet
docemilia
rss-duodecim-lehti
rss-ammamafia
rss-bios-podcast
rss-astetta-parempi-elama-podcast
rss-tiedetta-vai-tarinaa
rss-lihavuudesta-podcast
rss-totuuden-liepeilla