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National Institute on Drug Abuse

National Institute on Drug Abuse

NIH-funded intervention did not impact opioid-related overdose death rates over evaluation period | National Institute on Drug Abuse

National Institute on Drug Abuse
Summary
Nutrition label

87% Informative

HEALing Communities Study conducted in 67 communities in Kentucky , Massachusetts , New York , and Ohio four states hard hit by the opioid crisis.

Researchers identified increased prevalence of fentanyl in the illicit drug market including in mixtures with cocaine and methamphetamine as factors that likely weakened the impact of the intervention.

Only 235 of the 615 strategies ( 38% ) were implemented before the comparison period began in July 2021 .

Fentanyl increasingly permeated the illicit drug supply, and was increasingly mixed or used in combination with stimulant drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine, or in counterfeit pills made to look like prescription medications.