Are you interested in learning more about our data from our Sentinel Site Directors? From EMS encounters? From the Rapid Street Reporting study? From our web monitoring? In networking and sharing your area’s trends? Join us for the 5th Annual Summit. It will be a hybrid event on Saturday, June 13 from 2:00–6:00 PM PT in conjunction with the 88th College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) Annual Scientific Meeting. Join us in person at the Oregon Convention Center or virtually via Zoom.

The agenda will feature updates from the NDEWS Coordinating Center and Early Warning Network, as well as presentations highlighting our latest publications and data. The program will also include dedicated time for an open-floor discussion for attendees to explore new partnership ideas, propose new research questions, and explore innovative approaches for data integration.

During CPDD, members of the NDEWS Coordinating Center and affiliates will present symposia and posters showcasing recent findings. While registration for the CPDD conference is not required to attend the NDEWS Summit, we encourage you to register and stay for what is the favorite conference for many of us.

This week’s NDEWS Weekly Briefing focuses on data from our Rapid Street Reporting (RSR) study along with feedback from our readers.

We’ve been busy traveling across the United States and interviewing people. This week, NDEWS is releasing two recent RSR reports: Gainesville, FL, during which we piloted oral fluid collection, and New Orleans, Louisiana. Read more about the survey results and collection of samples below.

As always, we welcome your input.

As the unregulated drug supply in the US continues to change, it's important to use multiple types of data to better understand the use of novel psychoactive substances (NPS).

Our ten minute anonymous RSR interview survey covers common drugs as well as NPS, but given that people often use NPS unknowingly or unintentionally, self‑reported survey data alone may not accurately capture NPS use and can underestimate exposure. However, possible adverse effects reported by participants via survey can be linked to levels of NPS exposure detected through biological testing. The RSR study therefore collects biological samples alongside survey data to better assess substance exposure and related adverse effects.

From 2021 to 2025, we invited participants to provide a hair sample for testing. As of October 2025, RSR participants are instead invited to provide an anonymous oral fluid sample, tested through collaboration with the Center for Forensic Science Research & Education’s (CFSRE) NPS Discovery program.

This new approach was piloted in December 2025 as part of the data collected in Gainesville, FL and has now replaced hair sample collection for all future RSR data collection. All participants who provide oral fluid are given an anonymous code and information on how they can access their oral fluid results.

Click here to read more about NDEWS Rapid Street Reporting.

The Rapid Street Reporting (RSR) team visited Gainesville, FL on December 6th, 2025 and surveyed 25 individuals. After alcohol (68.0%) and marijuana for recreational use (32.0%), the next most commonly reported substances used in the past 12 months were delta-8 (28.0%), marijuana for medical use (24.0%), and powder cocaine (16.0%).
Click here to read the full report.

The Rapid Street Reporting (RSR) team visited New Orleans, LA from February 20th to 21st, 2026 and surveyed 156 individuals. After alcohol and marijuana for recreational use, the next most commonly reported substances used in the past 12 months were marijuana for medical use (19.9%), powder cocaine (14.7%), psilocybin (14.1%), methamphetamine (13.5%), delta-8 (11.5%) and synthetic cannabinoids (11.5%).
Click here to read the full report

NDEWS would like to thank everyone who took the time to complete our recent NDEWS Weekly Briefing survey. The feedback we received was invaluable and it will play a direct role in shaping how we deliver timely, actionable information to the NDEWS community.

We were encouraged to see that all respondents feel the Weekly Briefing meets all or some of your expectations, you rarely do not use the material we disseminate in your professional work, and you are likely to recommend the Briefing to colleagues. Almost one third of you reads the Briefing as soon as it comes out; 88% of you read the Briefing on Friday! Additionally, we are very satisfied to know that nearly all of you finds our original reports to be very valuable. This reinforces the value of our work across a wide range of professional roles in public health, research, and government.

Looking ahead, we intend to strengthen sections you value most, including context setting content, Rapid Street Reports, Web Monitoring Reports, and recent publications and news, while exploring ways to further refine and streamline other components of the Briefing. Our goal is to ensure each issue remains relevant, easy to navigate, and useful to our readers.

Read the full NDEWS Weekly Briefing Survey Overview here.

If you did not get a chance to give your feedback, please do so by clicking the link below to our Reader Response form! We believe that feedback is a gift!

Are you committed to advancing the science of substance use and public health? The University of Florida’s NIDA-funded T32 Training Program offers predoctoral and postdoctoral scholars an exceptional opportunity to launch impactful research careers focused on NDEWS!

What We Offer:
- Interdisciplinary training at the intersection of addiction science, epidemiology, and surveillance
- Mentorship from leading UF faculty in epidemiology, public health, psychology, medicine, and more
- Hands-on research with landmark and important NIH-funded projects and access to rich data
- Career development support, including grant writing, publishing, and professional networking
- A collaborative, inclusive research community committed to reducing the burden of substance use

Eligibility:
- US citizens or permanent residents
- Interested in a PhD in Epidemiology, or early-stage postdoctoral fellows
- Demonstrated interest in substance use, addiction, or public health research

Location: Gainesville, Florida — a dynamic hub for scientific innovation with high quality of life and low cost of living.

Dear friends of NDEWS,

Have you ever been to a College on Problems of Drug Dependence meeting? If not, you are missing an opportunity to learn about drugs from the bench to the community. Many of us have made lifelong friends by attending the annual meeting. This year, the conference will be held on 13 - 17, 2026 in delightful Portland, Oregon! If you have never been before and want to learn more about the meeting and organization, click here.

Register for CPDD’s 88th Annual Meeting here.

We’d also love to see you at the Annual NDEWS Summit, which will be held as a hybrid event on Saturday, June 13 from 2:00–6:00 PM PT. While it is held in conjunction with CPDD, registration for the CPDD conference is not required to attend the NDEWS Summit.

Register for NDEWS Summit here.

📅 Date: Saturday, June 13, 2026

🕑 Time: 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm PT

📍 Location: In person at the Oregon Convention Center & Hyatt Regency Portland or virtually via Zoom.

We hope to see you there!

The NDEWS team

The NDEWS Weekly Briefing curates emerging data and findings from across the Early Warning Network, which includes three core components: our Scientific Advisory Group (SAG), comprised of national experts and federal partners; our Sentinel Site Directors (SSDs), who lead local surveillance in key geographic regions; and our Community-Based Health Experts, who provide on-the-ground insights from populations most impacted by drug trends. Together, these contributors generate timely, multidisciplinary and impactful information, ranging from peer-reviewed research findings to local surveillance data. These contributions inform public health and research communities.

You can share the NDEWS Weekly Briefing with friends, colleagues, and others who would benefit from information on recent and relevant news, articles, and data related to novel drug trends in the US and globally by clicking here.

Share your research, news, and events through our submission form.

Share information on drug trends in your community through our get involved form.
Share your comments on our newsletter through our feedback form.

For more information on NDEWS' efforts, visit our website.

Follow NDEWS on Twitter/X: @NDEWSnews

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), NYU Langone Health (MPI: Palamar), and Florida Atlantic University (Co-I: Barenholtz). Any item may be reproduced provided the source is acknowledged.