RESEARCH : Heller provides drug supply research opportunities

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Gloucester, Fall River, Northampton, Lawrence, Beverly, Cape Cod, Essex County, and Berkshire County communities. MADDS is funded by grants from the Centers for Disease Control, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services.

Community drug checking programs not only lead to improved public health and safety measures, but they also transform the way people collect information on the chemical substances in communities’ drug supplies. In a Jan. 30 interview with the Justice, Green explained that there is no formal source of data on drug supply, so researchers have to wait until adverse situations, such as hospitalizations, deaths, and arrests occur in order to gain data. Green thinks that this method is “unethical and we need a better and more accurate look that is more on the preventative side and forward thinking.” By compiling drug supply data through collecting samples, researchers can gain access to data earlier and enact preventative measures.

Moreover, because the street drug supply is unregulated, community drug checking can fill in information gaps and inform drug-users what substances are in their drugs. Increasing awareness among drug-users can cause them to change their consumption behaviors and reduce their risks of negative health outcomes.

In the interview, Green discussed three emerging trends in the drug supply. 4-Fluorofentanyl and Despropionyl 4-Fluorofentanyl — a fentanyl analog and an intermediary in fentanyl analog production, respectively — were found in heroin and fentanyl samples. According to the CDC, analogs are “drugs that are similar in chemical structure or pharmacologic effect to another drug, but are not identical.” This pattern appeared during the pandemic, and the addition of these drugs heightens the toxicity of the sample, leading to concerns about overdosing.

Furthermore, the MADDS team discovered a dramatic rise of the veterinary tranquilizer xylazine in fentanyl and heroin drug supplies. Green stated that in 2021, one third of samples of heroin and fentanyl contained xylazine. Xylazine can cause oversedation in humans and prevent them from moving for four to five hours at a time depending on the dosage. If people use drugs with xylazine outside in the cold, there is a risk of frostbite and hypothermia; on the other hand, if it is hot outside, drug-users risk excessive sun exposure. The