NDEWS ORIGINAL CONTENT

NDEWS Hotspot Alerts: Opioid, heroin, methamphetamine, and non-opioid 911 dispatches September 29 – October 5, 2022

NDEWS Hotspot Alerts is a dynamic notification system of biospatial.io that quantifies the degree to which observed 911 dispatch rates for drug-related events deviate from expected ranges of values. View the full report here.

Substance use in the past 12 months: Philadelphia, PA Survey dates: September 23-25, 2022 N=302

The National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS) Rapid Street Reporting (RSR) team visited Philadelphia, PA on September 23-25, 2022. The RSR team conducted surveys (N=302) in public spaces, including parks, nightlife, town squares, sidewalks, music venues, grocery stores, and museums. View the full report here.

Eutylone in the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA area of responsibility

A recently published bulletin by the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA Investigative Support Center reported on an increase of eutylone within the Washington/Baltimore area of responsibility (AOR) in 2021, which then decreased steadily in the first quarter of 2022. In March 2021, eutylone-positive samples peaked, compared to one year later, March 2022 had the second lowest number of eutylone-positive samples.

Alert from the NDEWS Web Monitoring Team: Online mentions of eutylone

Context: This alert follows a September bulletin from the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA Investigative Support Center, reporting a 2021 increase and 2022 decrease in eutylone.

What was found? Mentions of eutylone on Reddit agree with lab data from HIDTA. Mentions were most prevalent in 2021, with a decrease in mentions the first half of 2022. In Q3 of this year, there has been a return to pre-2022 eutylone mention levels.

To what does eutylone refer? Eutylone is a synthetic cathinone drug with stimulant and empathogen effects.

How is it being discussed? Eutylone is frequently co-mentioned with MDMA as a party drug, with commenters reporting both positive and negative experiences. Stimulant communities on Reddit also discuss eutylone frequently. Commenters do not frequently use slang terms to refer to the drug.

Drug Terms: Eutylone. 

RECENTLY PUBLISHED

Notes from the field: Overdose deaths involving para-fluorofentanyl — US, July 2020-June 2021

A report in last week’s MMWR analyzed overdose deaths involving para-fluorofentanyl in the US from July 2020 to June 2021. Para-fluorofentanyl was involved in 1,658 overdose deaths from July 2020 to June 2021. The number of para-fluorofentanyl-involved overdose deaths increased 455.3% from 253 during July 2020 to December 2020 to 1,405 during January to June 2021. Para-fluorofentanyl involved deaths nearly always co-involved illicitly manufactured fentanyl. Read the full report here.

UNODC: Current NPS Threats, Volume V

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recently published Current NPS Threats volume V. This report combines data from drug seizures as well as drug detections in biological fluid casework. Read the full report here.

UPCOMING WEBINARS

Re-introducing CFSRE's NPS Discovery program: Past, present, and a look into the future

The Center for Forensic Science Research and Education (CFSRE)'s NPS Discovery program will be hosting a free interactive and informative webinar next week on October 11th, 2022, from 1 to 3:30 p.m. ET. The webinar will discuss NPS Discovery's history and plans for the future, as well as the most up-to-date information on synthetic cannabinoids, NPS benzodiazepines, NPS opioids, and NPS stimulants. The event will finish with a round table Q&A session with all the presenters as well as a live demo of their new website. Click here to register.

Join Virtual HealthStreet

Virtual HealthStreet is an online community of people who will periodically be asked to respond to confidential surveys on their lived experiences with drugs and information on new and emerging drugs. People with lived experience can help us garner a better understanding of emerging drug trends across the US and disseminate early warnings in near real time. Anyone over the age of 18 with lived experience with the use of drugs can participate. Please use the QR code above to sign up. To share this information with your network click here.

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