Synthetic opioids in Poland-A cause for concern or a media distraction?

Autor: Los G; University of West London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: greg.los@uwl.ac.uk., Malczewski A; Head of CINN (Reitox Focal Point Point), Poland. Electronic address: artur.malczewski@kbpn.gov.pl.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The International journal on drug policy [Int J Drug Policy] 2024 Nov; Vol. 133, pp. 104595. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Sep 18.
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104595
Abstrakt: Background: The North American continent has been battling a major health crisis defined by opioids like OxyContin and fentanyl for over two decades now. In that time, it seemed that Europe is rather resilient to a similar problem, and heroin retained its position as a the most problematic opioid. This does seem to be changing and European media, including in Poland, is starting to report on growing popularity of synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
Methods: We use official data showing the number of prescriptions for synthetic opioids; data showing the percentage of people entering treatment due to different opioids; police data on drug interceptions as well as lab closures, and data on opioid related poisonings.
Results: The data demonstrates that although Polish physicians are increasingly more likely to prescribe synthetic opioids like OxyContin or Fentanyl, their problematic use remains low.
Conclusion: Poland currently does not seem to be in a position that resembles an early stage of an opioid crisis. With this article we want to calm a heated public debate that is currently taking place in Poland, and redirect attention to a much more substantial problem of synthetic cathinones.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Artur Malczewski is a government official and works for the National Centre for Countering Addiction (Krajowe Centrum Przeciwdziałania Uzależnieniom).
(Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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