Surveillance of Drug Use Trends in the State of Ohio January – June 2023 is Published

The Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring (OSAM) Network has announced the release of its latest Drug Trend Report, Surveillance of Drug Use Trends in the State of Ohio: January – June 2023 .  OSAM conducts focus groups, interviews, and administers surveys to persons actively involved in illicit substance use and/or receiving treatment services for substance use disorder, as well as community professionals including treatment providers and law enforcement. In total, 323 consumers of illicit substances, 43 treatment providers, and 45 members of law enforcement were interviewed as part of this research. The report explores key trends in illicit substance use, utilization of treatment and support services, harm reduction utilization, and other factors related to substance use.

Key findings from this research show that:

  • Fentanyl and methamphetamine remain highly available throughout OSAM regions.
  • Consumers desire fentanyl due to its low cost and high potency.
  • Fentanyl is highly addictive and highly profitable to drug dealers and is added to other drugs to get more people addicted.
  • Consumers in Cleveland, Columbus, and Youngstown regions reported fentanyl as a common adulterant for cocaine.
  • Consumers in Akron-Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Youngstown regions reported fentanyl as a common adulterant for methamphetamine.
  • Throughout OSAM regions, respondents reported high prevalence of fentanyl-pressed pills that are often fashioned to resemble legitimate prescriptions pills.
  • Discussion themes were that people who use opioids are switching to methamphetamine to wean themselves off opioids, are using methamphetamine to alleviate opioid withdrawal symptoms and/or to reduce the risk of opioid overdose, and/or they are combining methamphetamine with opioid use to “speedball” (concurrent or consecutive stimulant and depressant highs), an increasingly popular drug trend.
  • Although only discussed by consumers in the Cincinnati region, crime lab data sources indicated availability of nitazene compounds (a group of powerful, illicit synthetic opioids) throughout OSAM regions.
  • Coroner and medical examiner offices in Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Dayton regions reported 45 total drug related deaths involving xylazine, an increase from 18 total deaths during the previous reporting period.

Questions? Please email OSAM Principal Investigator R. Thomas Sherba, PhD, MPH, LPCC, CPM, at [email protected].