Table 1.
Search parameters used for Google Trends.
Table 2.
Available crime statistics related to methamphetamine use.
Fig 1.
Internet search activity and crime statistics related to methamphetamine in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria.
Search volume data is available monthly, crime statistics yearly. The category "All offences" in Switzerland includes use, possession, dealing, manufacture, and trafficking. In Austria, it includes possession and dealing. Number of seizes, amount seized and number of first users in Germany refer to crystal meth only, since other forms of the drug are lumped together with amphetamine in the official statistics. The corresponding curves have been slightly horizontally offset from each other for better visibility. Search volume for the term "meth" is a relative number, whose scale is not informative and therefore not shown. For ease of visual comparison, it has been rescaled in each graph to peak at half the maximum of the y-axis. The dashed black line represents the averaged monthly search volume within a year to make values more easily comparable to crime statistics.
Fig 2.
Time course of criminal offences and Google search volume related to methamphetamine in states of Austria.
"All offences" includes possession and dealing of the drug. Search volume is a relative number and has been re-scaled to peak at half the maximum of the y-axis.
Fig 3.
Cross-correlation of Google search volume and criminal offences related to methamphetamine.
The blue curve shows cross-correlations based on yearly values. The gray line and shaded area represent the median and interquartile range of monthly correlations based on imputed data. a Total offences in Switzerland. b Number of first methamphetamine users in Germany. c Number of drug lab busts in Germany. d Total offences in Austria.