The Opioid Epidemic Within the COVID-19 Pandemic: Drug Testing in 2020

This is an academic paper that uses a national database of drug screens to examine how the coronavirus pandemic has affected substance use. Using drug testing as a surveillance tool, findings show that positive test rates increased by 35% for non-prescribed fentanyl, 44% for heroin, and 10% for non-prescribed opioids.

Response Approach
COVID / Coronavirus related
Citation

Niles, J.K., Gudin, J., Radcliff, J., Kaufman, H.W. (2020). The Opioid Epidemic Within the COVID-19 Pandemic: Drug Testing in 2020. Population Health Management. Epub ahead of print. doi: 10.1089/pop.2020.0230