Novel Synthetic Opioids (NSO) Use in Opioid Dependents Entering Detoxification Treatment.

Introduction: Over the last decade, the use of New/Novel Synthetic Opioids (NSO) has emerged as an increasing problem, and especially so in the USA. However, only little is known about the prevalence and history of NSO use in European heroin dependents.

Method: A cross-sectional multicenter study, carried out with the means of both standardized interviews and urine toxicology enhanced screening, in a sample of opioid addicted patients referred for an in-patient detoxification treatment.

Availability of Illegal Drugs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Western Germany.

In response to the COVID-19-pandemic, a lockdown was established in the middle of March 2020 by the German Federal Government resulting in drastic reduction of private and professional traveling in and out of Germany with a reduction of social contacts in public areas. We seek evidence on whether the lockdown has led to a reduced availability of illegal drugs and whether subjects with substance-related problems tried to cope with possible drug availability issues by increasingly obtaining drugs via the internet, replacing their preferred illegal drug with novel psychoactive substances, including new synthetic opioids (NSO), and/or by seeking drug treatment. A questionnaire was anonymously filled in by subjects with substance-related disorders, typically attending low-threshold settings, drug consumption facilities, and inpatient detoxification wards from a range of locations in the Western part of Germany.

Ranking the Harm of Psychoactive Drugs Including Prescription Analgesics to Users and Others-A Perspective of German Addiction Medicine Experts.

Over the past 15 years, comparative assessments of psychoactive substance harms to both users and others have been compiled by addiction experts. None of these rankings however have included synthetic cannabinoids or non-opioid prescription analgesics (NOAs, e.g.