My friend and colleague @nabarund.bsky.social !!!! www.npr.org/2025/10/08/n...

Sometime next week (second full week of May), CDC will publish 2024 predicted overdose numbers. Now is the time to get ready to tell your story. This guide will help with talking points. We expect a -27% drop (give or take 1.1%). opioiddatalab.ghost.io/od-data-own-...

Can’t stop won’t stop cc @nabarund.bsky.social

Street Drug newsletter just dropped. Latest OD numbers, #openscience, Duterte, #harmreduction events, & more! opioiddatalab.ghost.io/april-newsle...

OD deaths have been dropping in *every* state, for years. Fentanyl, xylazine, (dex)medetomidine are still around. We have much more to do. www.npr.org/2025/03/07/n... @brianmannadk.bsky.social See the full data deep dive here: opioiddatalab.ghost.io/peak-od-phen...

I made this video about what is really going on with these “fentanyl exposure” stories because I got tired of explaining the same thing over and over: www.youtube.com/watch?v=215h...

Really looking forward to kicking off our four-part spring series, "New Drugs and New Markets." Join us on March 13th 3-5pm EST for our Keynote with @nabarund.bsky.social and our first panel discussion! Please share widely and register here: bit.ly/NewDrugs1

As Canada installs a fentanyl czar, it is also: -closing safe drug consumption sites -gutting drug decriminalization -forcing drug users into treatment -restricting safe supply With Trudeau leaving, I wrote about the end of progressive drug policy: hatchetmedia.substack.com/p/manisha-kr...

More coverage this AM on the puzzling arrival of industrial chemical BTMPS in the illicit fentanyl supply And a timely reminder of the value of public health research With quotes from @chelsealshover.bsky.social @morgangodvin.bsky.social @nabarund.bsky.social 1/2 www.cnn.com/2025/02/12/h...

New analysis of overdose mortality, which has been dropping in most states since 2022-23. Surprisingly, 19 states are now near or below 2020 baseline. But, we still have a lot to do because too many people we love are still being harmed and dying. opioiddatalab.ghost.io/peak-od-phen...

Newly detected drugs, BTMPS receptors, Captagon, fentanyl and coke in marine animals, highdose naloxone, Remedy Alliance data, application for people with lived experience opioiddatalab.ghost.io/december-new...

Here are the 9 new-to-us substances we saw in unregulated street drugs last month. Full investigations at https://opioiddatalab.ghost.io/recent-drugs-nov-24/

Speechless outrage. Welcome to late stage opioid “crisis” gorging on itself to fabricate problems. www.themarshallproject.org/2024/12/11/p...

Meet the only model that predicted the current drop in overdose deaths

Appreciated these anachronistic pharma ads for pain medications from the early 2000s. https://buff.ly/414cj4q From Ben Westhoff via the Drugs + Hip-Hop substack

@nabarund.bsky.social posted a good explainer about various possible hypotheses of what's driving this, but my take home is that the jury is still out. opioiddatalab.ghost.io/are-overdose...

Here are the #nitazenes we have seen recently at the UNC Street Drug Analysis Lab. The live report data tracker is updated every night https://buff.ly/3CVpRoQ if you want to see the latest

Drug checking behind the scenes! Here's what happens when you run so many dope samples on your GCMS that you wear out the ionization source https://buff.ly/4fKhbAq #massspec #chemistry #drugchecking

The fentanyl epidemic in North America and the global reach of synthetic opioids

more harm, less harm reduction: why the fall in overdose deaths is not being seen in Black, Brown and American Indian communities, my latest www.nytimes.com/2024/12/02/o... special thanks to @rnbluthenthal.bsky.social @nabarund.bsky.social & Jon Zibbell & Dan Ciccarone

Is Prozac the only anti-depressant that can be found in street drugs? Nope. Here's what we found in a sample from October, and our take:

Why do US chemists use different names for street drugs than the rest of the world? Here's 3 examples from new detections in October: N-desalkylflurazepam = norfludiazepam etodesnitazene = etazene phenazolam = clobromazolam Explanation in our newsletter

Oooh, this is come good mystery solving by the #drugchecking community, figuring out why the FTIR spectra for #BTMPS wasn't aligning with the street drug samples. This is harm reduction science in action!

This is a great upcoming NC event to meet advocates who have been helping people with chronic pain survive in the era of forced tapers and abrupt discontinuations of medications.

Spironolactone (gout medicine) in street drugs? Whyyyyy? Photo summarizes what we think may have happened Full story in our newsletter (that you should definitely subscribe to): opioiddatalab.ghost.io/november-new... #medsky #harmreduction

Loving the monthly Street Drug Analysis Lab newsletter from UNC led by @nabarund.bsky.social. It's an excellent resource to learn about what's going on in our illicit drug supply. For example, they're tracking rises in sedatives like (dex)medetomidine in fentanyl samples. opioiddatalab.ghost.io

Our November newsletter just went live: BTMPS mystery solved, new nitazene and (dex)medetomidine data trackers, 13 newly detected substances, Watchlist updates, opioid settlement funding, Black Harm Reduction Network opioiddatalab.ghost.io/november-new...

I don’t really understand why people want to use a completely random mix of unknown substances either!

New episode of Factually is live: Why Fentanyl is Suddenly Everywhere with Dr. Nabarun Dasgupta Check it out! youtu.be/hXP0IZYE6aA

you think that's bad? the original spanish name for this combo is tucibi, the common pronunciation of another psychedelic 2C-B it has never contained 2C-B in Colombia to differentiate it from 2C-B people are now calling it "Nexus"... which is... you guessed it a 90% slang term for 2C-B

Hey global pharmacovigilance friends -- does anyone have access to a global database of OTC excipients? I would like to know if acetyl tributyl citrate is used as a coating on phenacetin tablets. acetyl tributyl citrate: PubChem 6505 #pharmacovigilance #excipients #pharmaceutical

Ketamine overdose deaths report. Only n=24 from July 2019 to June 2023 as the ONLY drug involved. Yeah ketamine is much safer than a lot of other drugs, but it seems possible there is a max someone should take, especially if physically exerting in other ways.

My 1st Bluesky post & delighted by the timing. The Loop granted 1st Home Office licence to carry out year-round in-house rapid drug testing at 2 of the UK’s biggest clubs, Drumsheds & The Warehouse Project. 💜♾️💜 #HarmReduction #TimeToTest #JustSayKnow www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

It's like the onion predicted their takeover of Infowars a year and a half ago

Another opioid settlement finalized for North Carolina, this time with Kroger. https://buff.ly/4hNjnZr Regardless of HOW we got here, let's do what we can use this money to actually help.

My first boss told me the most important role of a supervisor is to protect your team (or team's time) from interference from extraneous demands, originating both internally and externally. This is my avatar, then, from 'Sergio Saves the Game!' my most favorite kids book, by Edel Rodriguez.

Yay! I get an Oprah moment.... You get on the list! You get on the list! And so do you! go.bsky.app/Q9bBy2H

ok this one's for the #Drugsky and #harmreduction folks made this years ago, and almost nothing has changed

Still pretty new here, and don't really know how ⬇️this works, but hoping ❤️‍🔥Harm redux folks will add to/share this "starter pack" go.bsky.app/LbHM54P

Preview for our November newsletter: the 11 new substances we found in the drug supply in October. Each has a story and context we’ll go into, so sign up now opioiddatalab.ghost.io

The Onion should buy Elsevier next

This came up again today - Is xylazine like krokodil in that they both are associated with skin wounds? No. Xylazine’s wound etiology isn’t super clear yet. But krokodil (which is clandestinely-made desomorphine) causes skin wounds because of a chemical left behind during its synthesis.

"Our hypothesis is that something has changed in the drug supply. This kind of pronounced shift, something that happens suddenly, if numbers had suddenly shot up, we would definitely be pointing to a change in the drug supply to explain it," said Dasgupta. www.cbsnews.com/news/opioid-...

Amazing to see Louise Vincent of NC Survivors Union repping drug user unions on the national stage. So inspiring! Great story by Brian Mann NPR www.npr.org/2023/11/19/1...

Arriving for #Reform2023

Dream team! @madiganbedard.bsky.social @nabarund.bsky.social