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Law enforcement fentanyl seizures and overdose mortality in US counties

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Fentanyl

A study recently published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, co-authored by NDEWS researchers Dr. Joseph Palamar, Dr. Nicole Fitzgerald, Dr. Linda Cottler, and NDEWS affiliate Dr. Tom Carr, examined overall and drug-specific associations between county-level fentanyl burden––based on seizures of fentanyl in pills and powder, pills-only, or powder only––and county-level fatal drug overdoses in the US from 2013 to 2020. The results showed that counties with a high burden of pill or powder fentanyl seizures, or both, exhibited higher total overdose mortality than non-high-burden counties. A similar pattern of associations with fentanyl seizure/burden was noted for overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids.

Read the study here.

NDEWS is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse to the University of Florida (MPI: Cottler (contact), Co-Is: Goldberger, Nixon, Striley), NYU Langone Health (MPI: Palamar), and Florida Atlantic University (Co-I: Barenholtz)

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