ABSTRACT
Stimulant use, including cocaine, is a major public health issue and decreasing intake can reduce associated harms. We used a translational research approach (experimental for rats and observational for humans) to explore the influence of peer presence and familiarity on the frequency of self-administered cocaine. In both rats and humans, we compared cocaine intake when alone with intake when peers with different characteristics (familiar or not, cocaine-naive or not, dominant or subordinate) were present. In both rats and humans, the risk of drug consumption was reduced when a peer was present and further diminished when the peer was unfamiliar (vs familiar). In rats, the presence of a cocaine-naive peer further decreased cocaine consumption.
The presence of a non-familiar and drug-naive peer represents the key conditions to diminish cocaine intake. Our results indirectly support the use of social interventions and harm reduction strategies, in particular supervised consumption rooms for stimulant users.