With deep sorrow, we share the news of the passing of Dr. Jane Carlisle Maxwell, our esteemed NDEWS Sentinel Site Director. Dr. Maxwell, our colleague, was a dedicated champion for individuals with substance use disorders and their consequences. One of the best ways to honor her legacy is to read and reference her scholarly contributions. Her significant impact on the field will endure for years to come. May she rest in peace.

- NDEWS Principal Investigator, Dr. Linda Cottler

Services will be held at St. David's Episcopal Church in Austin, TX on January 27 at 1 p.m. In place of flowers, donations may be made to St. David's or the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance. Online condolences may be made here. 

In this week’s report, NDEWS highlights observations from biospatial detailing the utilization of naloxone among opioid-involved nonfatal overdoses. Between January 1st and December 31st, 2023, there were a total of 318,361 opioid-involved nonfatal overdoses identified in biospatial. Among states with at least 75% coverage, the five with the highest rate of nonfatal opioid overdose dispatches per 10,000 population were Kentucky, New Mexico, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Maine. View the full report here.

Earlier this week, NPS Discovery published a 2023 Year in Review. The report provides comprehensive up-to-date statistics about the emergence and landscape of novel psychoactive substances in the US. In 2023, NPS Discovery observed more than 3,600 total NPS detections within examined sample populations. Read the report here.

NPS Discovery also published Q4 2023 NPS Trend Reports earlier this week, with a focus on four main classifications: NPS benzodiazepines, NPS opioids, NPS stimulants and hallucinogens, and synthetic cannabinoids. View the reports here.

A study recently shared by one of our readers examined factors associated with indirect exposure to fentanyl, knowledge of fentanyl, and sources of substance use information among youth. Results showed that most youths did not have knowledge of fentanyl even though they reported indirect likely exposure to fentanyl. A significant risk factor of indirect likely exposure to fentanyl was COVID-related stress. Read the study here.

An article recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine discusses the overdose crisis among US adolescents. The authors note the widespread availability of counterfeit pills containing illicit fentanyl as an important driver of increasing risk among adolescents, and since many adolescents use fentanyl unknowingly, widespread implementation of up-to-date overdose prevention education is essential. Read the article here.

Date: Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Time: 2:00 p.m. ET

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