Killing time: drug and alcohol problems among asylum seekers in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, procedures for obtaining eventual refugee status normally take several years. This long period of uncertainty has been identified as a significant variable in psychological health complaints related to post-migration stress. Drug and alcohol problems were examined in a convenience sample of key figures in asylum seeker communities (N = 21) selected from three Dutch Asylum Seeker Centres (AZCs). A qualitative analysis of drug and alcohol use drawn from semi-structured, cross-sectional interviews was conducted to provide a description and explanations of variations in the drug use careers and drug use patterns of asylum seekers. Drug and alcohol use patterns were found to be often a continuation of standards, values and traditions from the country of origin and four types of drug culture emerged: abstinence, opium, khat and alcohol. Although psychological expectations and cultural background differed, our main finding was a hypothetical causal mechanism where use patterns have a similar function across groups as a means of “killing time”. “Killing time” involved countering the psychosocial distress of the asylum-seeking process and uncertainties about the future as well as past trauma. Several possible education and policy interventions were identified. We hypothesise post-migration and cultural expectation factors that continue between the country of origin and the host country are more significant than past trauma in accounting for drug and alcohol use patterns in the asylum seeker population.