This week’s NDEWS Weekly Briefing focuses on data from four recent Rapid Street Reporting (RSR) study visits. RSR is a national venue-intercept study focused on the NDEWS Sentinel Sites as well as “hotspot” locations. Hotspot sites are identified using US overdose trends captured in EMS encounter data from biospatial.io and other indicators within the NDEWS Early Warning Network that point to emerging drug trends in a specific geographic area. RSR data collection takes place over a weekend period, from Friday through Sunday.

In this Briefing, we release data from Albuquerque, Louisville, Philadelphia and Portland. Over 700 people were interviewed from May 8 to June 13 about their use of drugs in the past 12 months, perceptions about drugs and adverse symptoms from use. Common self-reported use of drugs (excluding alcohol), ranged from 32.7% to 61.7% for recreational marijuana to 6.5% to 19.1% for medical marijuana. Oral fluids were collected from 38 to 56% of participants. Mean age ranged from 36.4 to 40.3 years.  Most participants were interviewed on a sidewalk or at a town hall or plaza (40% to 77%).

As always, we welcome your input. Additionally, if you would like to recommend that NDEWS comes to your city/area, please reach out. If your city is selected, we will ask you to find a couple of graduate students to work with us in the field. They are paid! Thanks.

Click here for a PDF version of the report.

Click here to learn more about the NDEWS Rapid Street Reporting.

Click here for a PDF version of the report.

Click here to learn more about the NDEWS Rapid Street Reporting.

Click here for a PDF version of the report.

Click here to learn more about the NDEWS Rapid Street Reporting.

Click here for a PDF version of the report.
Click here to learn more about the NDEWS Rapid Street Reporting.

Christopher R. McCurdy, Ph.D., FAAPS, is a broadly trained medicinal chemist, behavioral pharmacologist and pharmacist whose research focuses on the design, synthesis and development of drugs to treat pain and drug abuse. During the upcoming NDEWS Webinar on September 24, Dr. McCurdy will discuss 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) and other recently scheduled synthetic substances.

📅 Date: September 24, 2026

🕑 Time: 1 pm - 2 pm ET

📍 Location: Virtual via Zoom

Register for the webinar here.

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.

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.

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

Share information on drug trends in your community through our get involved form.
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For more information on NDEWS' efforts, visit our website.

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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 Special Reports 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). 

NDEWS briefings, reports, and figures may be shared, reproduced, or excerpted, provided NDEWS is appropriately attributed, and a link to the original source material is included. NDEWS materials must not be sensationalized with language or imagery. Reference must be made to the most current version of the original NDEWS source material so as not to disseminate outdated or inaccurate information. NDEWS does not endorse or assume responsibility for third-party interpretation, commentary, or AI-generated content, including images, which use or reference NDEWS materials.