ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2022
Trends in seizures of powders and pills containing illicit fentanyl in the United States, 2018 through 2021.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers.
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Who cites it
71 citing papers in PubMed.
- Nonfatal Drug Overdose in a National Sample of Adolescents by Intent and Substance, Medicaid 2016-2020.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2026Article
- The positivity rate of opioid drug urine testing in an emergency department between 2016 and 2024, before and after the introduction of fentanyl testing.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2026Article
- Survey of local patterns of fentanyl exposure and harm reduction strategies in the Southeastern United States.The mental health clinician · 2026Article
- Fentanyl use among people who inject drugs in two large Pacific Northwest metropolitan areas.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- Self-Reported Adverse Effects Associated With New Psychoactive Substance Use in a Sample of Adults From 20 US Cities.Drug and alcohol review · 2026Article
- Medication for opioid use disorder among adolescents entering specialty treatment for opioid use disorder and trends in the US, 2017-2022.Addictive behaviors · 2026Article
- Proportion of Fentanyl Reports in Illicit Drug Seizures and Opioid Mortality.JAMA health forum · 2026Article
- The Donovan Memorial Lecture: 'Fentanyl-Plus': A New Era of Fentanyl Polydrug Combinations in the North American Overdose Crisis.Journal of medical toxicology : official journal of the American College of Medical Toxicology · 2026Article
- Hospital Care for Pregnant Persons With OUD Review.American journal of medicine open · 2025Review
- Use of Illegally Manufactured Fentanyl in the United States: Current Trends.Current addiction reports · 2025Article
- Association of route of drug administration with self-reported non-fatal overdose: A cohort study of Baltimore City adults who have injected drugs.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- High variation in purity of consumer-level illicit fentanyl samples in Los Angeles, September 2023-April 2025.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- The Epidemiology of Recreational Use and Availability of DOC and DOI in the United States.Journal of psychoactive drugs · 2025Article
- Naloxone Acceptance among Nightclub Attendees in New York City.Journal of community health · 2025Article
- Prevalence and correlates of self-reported new psychoactive substance use among adults in 20 US cities: Results from National Drug Early Warning System surveillance.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- Education Improves Perceived Control but Not Risk Identification in Adolescents Regarding Fentanyl.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Estimates of Illicit Opioid Use in the US.JAMA health forum · 2025Article
- Fentanyl Test Strip Use and Overdose Risk Reduction Behaviors Among People Who Use Drugs.JAMA network open · 2025Observational
- National and regional trends in fentanyl seizures in the United States, 2017-2023.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- Optimizing placement of public-access naloxone kits using geospatial analytics: a modelling study.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2025Article
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPrevalence of fentanyl-laced counterfeit prescription pills has been increasing in the US, possibly placing a wider population at risk for unintentional exposure. We aimed to determine whether there have been shifts in the number of fentanyl seizures and in the form of fentanyl seized in the US.
methodsWe examined quarterly national seizure data from High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas to determine the number of drug seizures in the US containing fentanyl from January 2018 through December 2021. Generalized additive models were used to estimate trends in the number and weight of pill and powder seizures containing fentanyl.
resultsThere was an increase both in the number of fentanyl-containing powder seizures (from 424 in 2018 Quarter 1 [Q1] to 1539 in 2021 Quarter 4 [Q4], β = 0.94, p < 0.001) and in the number of pill seizures (from 68 to 635, β = 0.96, p < 0.01). The proportion of pills to total seizures more than doubled from 13.8% in 2018 Q1 to 29.2% in 2021 Q4 (β = 0.92, p < 0.001). Weight of powder fentanyl seizures increased from 298.2 kg in 2018 Q1 to 2416.0 kg in 2021 Q4 (β = 1.12, p = 0.01); the number of pills seized increased from 42,202 in 2018 Q1 to 2,089,186 in 2021 Q4 (β = 0.90, p < 0.001).
conclusionsSeizures of drugs containing fentanyl have been increasing in the US. Given that over a quarter of fentanyl seizures are now in pill form, people who obtain counterfeit pills such as those disguised as oxycodone or alprazolam are at risk for unintentional exposure to fentanyl.
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