This Week’s Focus: Rapid Street Reporting

The NDEWS Rapid Street Reporting (RSR) is a monthly, venue-intercept study conducted across our national Sentinel Sites. RSR interviewers travel to sites on weekends to interview about their use of substances in the past 12 months including the recency of use. The seven-minute interview covers common drugs as well as new psychoactive substances (NPS). With over 6,600 participants surveyed to date, RSR complements traditional surveillance by capturing emerging trends in naturalistic, public settings. Optional saliva testing will be starting in the near future to understand the concordance between self-report and drug testing.

This week, NDEWS is releasing three recent RSR reports: Daytona Beach, FL, Charleston, SC, and the Washington Metropolitan Area. These reports provide timely insights into region-specific substance use. Across all three locations, alcohol and marijuana were the most commonly reported substances. Daytona Beach participants reported particularly high prevalence of psilocybin (12.5%), synthetic cannabinoids (12.5%), and methamphetamines (11.1%). In Charleston, delta-8-THC (10.2%) and prescription opioids (7.4%) were notable. The Washington, DC area stood out for its higher prevalence of crack (8.1%) and fentanyl (7.4%) use—substances less commonly reported in the Florida and South Carolina samples.

The Rapid Street Reporting (RSR) team visited Charleston, SC between March 28th and 30th, 2025 and surveyed 176 individuals. After alcohol and marijuana, the next most commonly reported substances used in the past 12 months were delta-8 (10.2%), prescription opioids (7.4%) and psilocybin (6.8%). Click here to read the full report.

Click here to read more about NDEWS Rapid Street Reporting.

The Rapid Street Reporting (RSR) team visited Charleston, SC between March 28th and 30th, 2025 and surveyed 176 individuals. After alcohol and marijuana, the next most commonly reported substances used in the past 12 months were delta-8 (10.2%), prescription opioids (7.4%) and psilocybin (6.8%). Click here to read the full report.

Click here to read more about NDEWS Rapid Street Reporting.

The Rapid Street Reporting (RSR) team visited Washington Metropolitan Area on April 11th and 12th, 2025 and surveyed 136 individuals. After alcohol and recreational marijuana, the next most commonly reported substances used in the past 12 months were crack (8.1%), fentanyl (7.4%) and synthetic cannabinoids (7.4%). Click here to read the full report.

Click here to read more about NDEWS Rapid Street Reporting.

The Washington/Baltimore HIDTA Information Bulletin by Butler et al. highlights the emergence of Bis(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl) sebacate (BTMPS), or Tinuvin 770, in Maryland’s illicit drug supply. BTMPS, an industrial UV stabilizer not approved for human use, was found in 0.7% of drug-positive samples (Jan–Mar 2025), often alongside fentanyl, heroin, and xylazine. It acts as a potent L-type calcium channel blocker and non-competitive antagonist at nicotinic receptors and does not respond to naloxone. First detected in 2024, BTMPS has since spread to at least 11 states. In New Mexico, it appeared in counterfeit M30 tablets with reports of severe withdrawal. Individuals who have used it describe BTMPS as smelling like bug spray or burning plastic.

Read the report here.

A recently published study in Addiction led by Dr. Joseph Palamar, Co-Director of NDEWS, and Dr. Alex Krotulski, NDEWS SAG member, estimates that 2.7% of NYC nightclub-attending adults used Tusi (“pink cocaine”) in the past year. Tusi, often mistaken for 2C-B, was assessed via surveys and saliva testing among 1,465 electronic dance music (EDM) event attendees. Use was significantly higher among Hispanic individuals (aOR = 5.10), and those reporting past-year use of ecstasy (aOR = 6.59), ketamine (aOR = 3.44), or 2C series drugs (aOR = 14.82). Among individuals who use Tusi, 77% tested positive for at least one expected substance, including ketamine, cocaine, or MDMA—often in combination. Unreported exposure to methamphetamine and synthetic cathinones was also common.

Read the study here.

A recently published study in the Canadian Journal of Public Health by Tobias et al. investigated the role of novel adulterants in unregulated opioids and their association with adverse events (AE) in British Columbia. From February 2022 to May 2024, over 10,800 post-consumption opioid samples were analyzed via FTIR spectroscopy and immunoassay at harm reduction sites. Among these, 10.7% were associated with at least one AE. The presence of benzodiazepines nearly doubled the likelihood of any AE (aPR = 1.97) and was strongly linked to overdose (aPR = 2.05) and prolonged sedation (aPR = 3.35). Xylazine, though less prevalent, was associated with increased seizures (aPR = 7.27) and prolonged sedation (aPR = 2.26). Unlike fentanyl or fluorofentanyl, these adulterants were independently associated with severe non-fatal outcomes, highlighting urgent public health concerns.

Read the study here.

A recently published report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) analyzes national trends in opioid-fentanyl-benzo-heroin-involved emergency department (ED) visits from 2021 to 2024. The authors used data from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN).
Read the study here.

A recently published report from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative® (HEAL) highlights 2024 research advances relevant to overdose surveillance and intervention. Key HEAL-supported innovations include CSX-1004, a long-acting monoclonal antibody that neutralizes fentanyl and carfentanil, and suzetrigine, the first US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved non-opioid analgesic for acute pain in 15 years. Additionally, HEAL reported a 24% decline in US overdose deaths for the 12 months ending in September 2024, a shift warranting further investigation.
Read the report here.

You are invited to attend the NDEWS Summit at the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) 87th Annual Scientific Meeting on Saturday, June 14th (06/14/2025) from 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm CT in Bayside Ballroom AB, 4th floor. The Summit will be open to all CPDD meeting attendees. 

We hope to see you there!

NDEWS Posters and Presentations at CPDD

In June, the NDEWS team will be traveling to attend the 87th College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. Along with posters, the NDEWS team will be presenting a late-breaking abstract, an oral presentation and two invited symposia. We invite you to join us for these presentations. Please find the presentation information below:

Sunday, June 15
3:30 pm - 4:45 pm CT Late-Breaking Abstract
Anesthetics (“-Caines”) Adulterate the Illicit Fentanyl Supply: A National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS) Alert
Joseph Palamar, Joshua DeBord, Alex Krotulski, Bruce Goldberger

5:00 pm - 6:30 pm CT Poster Session 1 (Napoleon Ballroom CD, 3rd Floor)
Trends in Nonfatal Fentanyl Poisonings Involving Stimulants in the United States, 2015–2023
Nicole Fitzgerald, Joshua Black, Linda Cottler, Silvia Martins, Joseph Palamar

Monday, June 16
10:45 am - 12:15 pm CT Invited Symposium
Found in Translation: Coordinated Preclinical, Human Laboratory and Epidemiological Approaches to Understanding Polydrug Use
William Stoops, Lori Knackstedt, Linda Cottler, Christa Corley

3:30 pm - 4:30 pm CT Oral Session: Sex Matters: Translational Evaluations of Sex-Specific Factors in Substance Use
Sex Differences in Problematic Substance Use, Mental Health, and Social Determinants of Health among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in the All of Us Research Program
Vijaya Seegulam, Bia Whipp, Liva LaMontagne, Linda Cottler

5:45 pm - 7:15 pm Poster Session 2 (Napoleon Ballroom CD, 3rd Floor)
Natural Language Processing Analysis of 7-Hydroxymitragynine Reddit Discussion
Daniel Van Zant, Kirsten Smith, Oliver Grundmann, Catherine Striley, Elan Barenholtz, Christopher McCurdy, Linda Cottler

Tuesday, June 17
3:45 pm- 4:45 pm CT Oral Presentation at Mini Symposium: Prevalence and Characteristics of Recreational Ketamine Use among Nightclub Attendees and College Students in the New York Tristate Area.
The Current Landscape of Medical and Recreational Ketamine Use
Shahar Almog, Meredith Berry, Joseph Palamar 

5:30 pm - 7:00 pm CT Poster Session 3 (Napoleon Ballroom CD, 3rd Floor)
Reported Use of Recreational and Medical Cannabis, Delta-8, and Delta-10: Findings from NDEWS Sentinel Sites and Hotspots (2022–2023)
Tamara Millay, Vijaya Seegulam, Monica Bhargavi Kodali, Linda Cottler

Wednesday, June 18
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm CT Poster Session 4 (Napoleon Ballroom CD, 3rd Floor)
Alcohol Polysubstance Use among past 30-Day Opioid Users in Northern Florida: A Model for Back Translational Research
Christian Conger, Linda Cottler

📅 Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2025

🕑 Time: 2:00 pm ET

📍 Location: Online

Learn more here.

📅 Date: Thursday, May 8, 2025

🕑 Time: 2:30 pm ET

📍 Location: Online

Learn more here.

📅 Dates: May 29 - May 30, 2025

📍Location: UF Academic and Research Center at Lake Nona, Orlando, FL

Learn more here.

📅 Dates: June 2 - 4, 2025

📍 Location: University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA

Learn more here.

📅 Date: Thursday, June 12, 2025

🕑 Time: 12:00 pm ET

📍 Location: Online

Learn more here.

📅 Date: Friday, June 20, 2025

📍 Location: New Orleans

Learn more here.

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If you miss or want to learn more about NDEWS Original Content, you can find our archived content on the NDEWS website:

     • NDEWS Hotspot Alerts using substance-related EMS data
     • NDEWS Rapid Street Reporting (RSR) survey data reports
     • NDEWS Web Monitoring Team Reddit Alerts
     • NDEWS Sentinel Site Reports
     • Previous issues of the NDEWS Weekly Briefings

The Weekly Briefing is a newsletter published each week by the National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS) Coordinating Center, which is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (U01DA051126) to the University of Florida (MPI: Cottler (contact), Co-Is: Goldberger, Nixon, Striley), New York University (MPI: Palamar), and Florida Atlantic University (Co-I: Barenholtz). Any item may be reproduced provided the source is acknowledged.