In this week’s State Report, NDEWS highlights opioid and non-opioid overdose alerts for Florida during 2023. These alerts indicate days in which the number of overdoses exceeded the expected number for that county. This expected count, or threshold, is calculated through biospatial, and accounts for population, seasonality, and other factors. Between January 1st and December 31st, 2023, in Florida there were a total of 43,161 opioid-involved nonfatal overdoses and 34,310 non-opioid-involved nonfatal overdoses identified in biospatial. The maps above indicate the frequency of alerts for non-opioid- or opioid-involved nonfatal overdose dispatches. Counties with three or more alerts during the reporting period are labeled. View the full report here.

Please join the Rutgers Center of Alcohol and Substance Use Studies for their Zoom webinar Investigating the Current Ketamine Landscape in the United States with NDEWS Deputy Director Dr. Joseph Palamar as the speaker.

Date: Thursday, February 8, 2024

Time: 12:30 - 1:30 PM ET

Register here.

Do you know a student interested in learning about substance use research this summer? Please encourage them to apply to the 2024 NIDA Summer Research Internship Program. Through this paid eight-week program, students age 18 and older are introduced to substance use and addiction research by participating in research internships with NIDA scientists at universities across the US. The internship may include laboratory experiments data collection, data analysis, formal courses, participation in lab meetings, patient interviews, manuscript preparation, and literature reviews. NDEWS is a participating lab so if interested be sure to mention us. This internship is one of the very best! Complete the application here.

A study recently published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence explored the association of non-drug reinforcers with treatment outcomes by measuring past month non-drug reinforcement and quantifying three elements: relative frequency, access, and enjoyability. Comparisons by drug class showed lower non-drug reinforcement among patients reporting heroin or methamphetamine as their primary drug. The authors note the importance of non-drug reinforcement during the first month following treatment. Read the study here.

A recently published study in JAMA Network Open compared naloxone plasma concentrations between different intranasal naloxone repeat dosing strategies and estimated their effect on fentanyl overdoses. Compared with 1 intranasal naloxone dose administered at 0 and 2.5 minutes, 1 dose at 0, 2.5, 5, and 7.5 minutes significantly increased naloxone plasma concentration at 10 minutes, whereas 2 doses at 0 and 2.5 minutes significantly increased plasma concentration at 4.5 minutes. Read the study here.

Date: Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Time: 2:00 p.m. ET

Register here.

A national expert panel of persons with histories of drug use are invited to join Virtual HealthStreet to participate in periodic anonymous, special topic surveys specifically aimed at garnering a better understanding of emerging drug trends across the US. Join here.

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