"In the late 1950s, the synthesis of 2-benzylbenzimidazole opioids led to the creation of several compounds now known collectively as nitazenes - although they do not technically meet the current United States Adopted Name (USAN) definition of an “azene.” They were of particular interest because their chemical structures are distinct from the typical morphine-like phenanthrene motif and meperidine analogs like fentanyl.
"The current trend towards the use of high potent synthetic opioids, especially fentanyl, has caused an extreme increase in the prevalence of non-fatal and fatal overdose events [13, 14]. However, the trend towards higher opioid potency is still ongoing, with several analogues and novel opioids becoming increasingly available.
"Highly potent synthetic opioids have not played such a prominent role in rising deaths among people who use drugs in the UK. Global drug markets are, however, rapidly evolving.
"In conclusion, we found that areas where SCS were implemented in Toronto subsequently had significant reductions in overdose mortality incidence, although other areas in the city did not. Furthermore, we found an inverse spatial association between SCS and overdose mortality incident locations, and this association increased in magnitude over time. This finding suggests that the implementation of SCS could contribute to reductions in overdose mortality in proximal areas.
"In this cohort study, nearly two-thirds (61.4%) of adults with chronic pain in 2019 continued to have chronic pain in 2020. While 14.9% of those with nonchronic pain reported chronic pain 1 year later, only 6.3% of those pain free in 2019 developed incident chronic pain and only 1.4% exhibited an onset of HICP. Lower educational attainment and older age were associated with higher rates of chronic pain in 2020 regardless of pain status in 2019.
"Using the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s treatment locator and search engine advertising data, we identified 160 residential addiction treatment facilities that treated adolescents with opioid use disorder as of December 2022. We called facilities while role-playing as the aunt or uncle of a sixteen-year-old child with a recent nonfatal overdose, to inquire about policies and costs. Eighty-seven facilities (54.4 percent) had a bed immediately available. Among sites with a waitlist, the mean wait time for a bed was 28.4 days.
"In 2019, relatively low rates of xylazine NFLIS [National Forensic Laboratory Information System] reports were observed; all states had a rate below 6 xylazine NFLIS reports per 100,000 residents, and 16 states had zero NFLIS xylazine reports (Figure 1; eTable 4 in Supplement 1).
"Each year, OMACs [One-Month Alcohol Abstinence Campaigns] attract an increasing number of participants. For example, even if it still represents less than one percent of the Australian adult population in 2019, 44,000 people officially registered for Dry July [28], while they were 16,787 in 2016 and 9,532 in 2010 [34].
