Fentanyl and xylazine crisis: Crafting coherent strategies for opioid overdose prevention.
| Autor: | Jain L; Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut, Farmington, CT 06032, United States. lakshit.jain@ct.gov., Kaur J; Addiction Services Division, Connecticut Valley Hospital, Middletown, CT 06457, United States., Ayub S; Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Living, Hartford, CT 06102, United States., Ansari D; Department of Medicine, Islamabad Medical and Dental College, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan., Ahmed R; Department of Medicine, Liaquat College of Medicine and Dentistry, Karachi 75290, Pakistan., Dada AQ; Department of Medicine, Trinity School of Medicine, Roswell, GA 30075, United States., Ahmed S; Addiction Services and Dual Diagnosis Unit, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford, CT 06105, United States. |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Zdroj: | World journal of psychiatry [World J Psychiatry] 2024 Jun 19; Vol. 14 (6), pp. 760-766. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jun 19 (Print Publication: 2024). |
| DOI: | 10.5498/wjp.v14.i6.760 |
| Abstrakt: | The United States is in the throes of a severe opioid overdose epidemic, primarily fueled by the pervasive use of fentanyl and the emerging threat of xylazine, a veterinary sedative often mixed with fentanyl. The high potency and long duration of fentanyl is compounded by the added risks from xylazine, heightening the lethal danger faced by opioid users. Measures such as enhanced surveillance, public awareness campaigns, and the distribution of fentanyl-xylazine test kits, and naloxone have been undertaken to mitigate this crisis. Fentanyl-related overdose deaths persist despite these efforts, partly due to inconsistent policies across states and resistance towards adopting harm reduction strategies. A multifaceted approach is imperative in effectively combating the opioid overdose epidemic. This approach should include expansion of treatment access, broadening the availability of medications for opioid use disorder, implementation of harm reduction strategies, and enaction of legislative reforms and diminishing stigma associated with opioid use disorder. Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article. (©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.) |
| Databáze: | MEDLINE |
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