Kristen Gonzalez, MPH, Outside In’s Substance Use Treatment Program Manager co-wrote an article for Filter Magazine, “Learning the Blues: West Coast Grapples with Shifting Drug Supply.”
“People’s initiation into opioids used to be primarily through nonmedical use of pharmaceuticals. As the supply of those fell, more and more people were initiated through heroin. Following that trend, the nation may expect to see people’s drug-of-first-use switch to fentanyl. That is likely already happening, even if data don’t yet show it—drug-use data collection operates on a lag, and the pandemic complicated it further. It’s a dangerous transition, as fentanyl is more potent and presents a higher overdose risk, especially for the opioid-naive.”
