Opium & opioids

Events

INCB civil society hearing 2024 (Theme: Synthetic drugs - Scenarios and responses)

Online

20 May 2024 - 31 May 2024

The INCB will hold its annual civil society hearing in relation to synthetic drugs and their rapid expansion.

Publications2 April 2024

Catalysts for change: Youth-driven insights in opioid harm reduction

Youth Rise underscore key challenges for young people who use opioids, including a lack of access to youth-tailored health and harm reduction, enduring stigma, and marginalisation.

News14 February 2024

US: We have treatments for opioid addiction that work. So why is the problem getting worse?

Access to evidence-based life-saving treatments continue to be hampered by stigma, racial inequality, and restrictive policies on drug prescribing.

Publications29 January 2024

Community-led monitoring of opioid agonist treatment

The Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA) collated insights and recommendations from a regional project that aims to empower communities through community-led monitoring mechanisms.

Publications25 January 2024

Nitazenes—heralding a second wave for the UK drug-related death crisis?

Holland et. al. ring the alarm on opioid supply adulteration with nitazenes and recommend immediate action.

News27 December 2023

Canada: Net-widening the 'war on drugs'

Expanding the criminalisation of fentanyl by targeting its precursors will expand the harms of an unregulated drug supply.

Publications21 December 2023

Southeast Asia Opium Survey 2023: Cultivation, production, and implications

The UNODC Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific describes the diverging trends and drivers in the production of opium and heroin in Myanmar and Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR).

Publications2 December 2023

The illegal drugs market is changing—is the UK prepared?

Eastwood and Schlossenberg raise the alarm on nitazenes in the UK and call for urgently strengthening the harm reduction response.

Publications2 December 2023

Frictions in drug control: prescription opioids, prohibition and consumption cultures in Africa

Nelson and Dumbili introduce a special issue of 'Drugs, Habits and Social Policy' that sheds light on the social and structural drivers of opioid use in the continent, and the impacts of restrictive policy.

News16 November 2023

'Stayin' alive' - On the rise of nitazenes as adulterants in Britain's street drug supply

As the presence of nitazenes, powerful synthetic opioids, increase in the UK drug supply, the 'Stayin' Alive' campaign strongly advises people who use heroin, oxycodone, and benzodiazepines to adopt additional safety measures, including testing, reducing dosage, and carrying naloxone.

Publications8 November 2023

Global state of harm reduction: 2023 update to key data

Harm Reduction International presents an update to key data in their flagship report - The Global State of Harm Reduction, including the launch of a new drug consumption room in Colombia.

Publications26 September 2023

Virtual overdose monitoring services and overdose prevention technologies: Opportunities, limitations, and future directions

Rioux et al. explore the ways in which virtual overdose monitoring services and overdose detection technologies can help to expand the reach of 'traditional' harm reduction interventions whilst highlighting concerns —including related to privacy and surveillance.

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