Fentanyl

September 17, 2025 | Controlled Substances, Fentanyl, Harm Reduction, Law Enforcement, Legal & Legislative Research, Opioids, Public Health, Public Safety, Sharps/Syringes, Substance Misuse, Synthetic Drugs

Given the increased emphasis in recent years on using harm reduction strategies to slow the overdose crisis, the hurdle posed by state drug paraphernalia laws to freely allowing drug checking services or establishing syringe services programs is not inconspicuous. Accordingly, in 2022, LAPPA first undertook an extensive research project to determine how drug paraphernalia laws throughout the 50 states, District of Columbia, and all U.S. territories treat drug checking equipment (including fentanyl test strips and other items) and needles/syringes. This January 2024 version, which sets forth a summary of state and territory laws as of December 2023, is an update to the original report. ...

April 7, 2025 | Controlled Substances, Fentanyl, Legal & Legislative Research, Public Health, Public Safety, Substance Misuse, Synthetic Drugs

In this survey, the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association (LAPPA) examines the legislative and regulatory response at the state level to the issue of fentanyl cleanup. As at the federal level, there is little policy in this area, and the only exceptions to that rule are very recent. Findings are presented jurisdiction by jurisdiction for easy comparison among the states, and include pending legislation....

March 5, 2025 | Controlled Substances, Fact Sheets, Fentanyl, Harm Reduction, Public Safety, Synthetic Drugs

In mid 2024, community-based drug checking programs discovered the industrial chemical bis (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl) sebacate (BTMPS) in the illicit opioid supply in Portland, Oregon and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The substance appears as a white powder, and on industrial chemical websites, it is often referred to by its brand name, Tinuvin® 770. Used, among other things, as a protective coating on plastics to provide protection against ultraviolet rays, BTMPS belongs to a class of molecules called hindered amine light stabilizers. It is not approved for use in humans or animals, and it is not a scheduled or regulated substance in the U.S. This fact sheet provides an overview of the sudden increase in the presence of BTMPS in the illicit drug supply and its rapid proliferation across the country, which has left drug policy experts and harm reduction specialists puzzled as to why it is in the supply and how it will affect the individuals consuming it....

October 7, 2024 | Controlled Substances, Fact Sheets, Fentanyl, Novel Psychoactive Substances, Opioids, Substance Misuse

“Tusi” is the name given to a new synthetic drug combination that first emerged in the 2010s in Latin America and Europe and is becoming increasingly popular in the United States. The name is a play on “2C,” a group of psychedelic drugs common among clubgoers, which tusi is rarely found to contain. Also called “pink cocaine,” though it usually does not contain cocaine, it is a powder that is dyed with pink food coloring that smells of strawberries. It is typically snorted, pressed into pill form, or mixed with water (called “happy water”). Because tusi is new on the drug scene, not much is currently known about the effects of the drug on those who use it. People who use drugs should be aware of the dangers of using tusi due to confusion regarding the names by which it is known as well as the different drugs used to make it and should use harm reduction practices to prevent adverse effects from its use....

April 24, 2023 | Alcohol, Controlled Substances, Fentanyl, Marijuana, Methamphetamine, Opioids, Prescription Drugs, Public Health, Reports & Studies, Stimulants, Substance Misuse, Synthetic Drugs

The purpose of this report was to assess immediate and sustained changes in overall illicit substance ingestion rates among children younger than six before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and to examine changes by substance type, including amphetamines, benzodiazepines, cannabis, cocaine, ethanol, and, opioids. Researchers concluded that there was a sustained increase in illicit substance ingestion during the pandemic and that additional studies are needed to contextualize these findings in the setting of pandemic-related stress....

January 6, 2023 | Controlled Substances, Fact Sheets, Fentanyl, Kratom, Marijuana, Methamphetamine, Novel Psychoactive Substances, Opioids, Prescription Drugs, Stimulants, Substance Misuse, Synthetic Drugs

Millions of people throughout the world use social media platforms (or “apps”) providing an easy avenue to reach a large number of people. Legitimate businesses are not the only ones to use social media apps as a marketing tool. In recent years, drug dealers have turned to such apps to solicit buyers and arrange sales. This fact sheet examines the growing use of social media, by drug suppliers, to surreptitiously advertise to a wide audience, by using apps that offer encrypted or disappearing messages....