The increase in benzodiazepine-laced drugs and related risks in Canada
The urgent need for effective and sustainable solutions
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 14905798 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Cayley Russell (0000-0001-9634-9554, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, corresponding author), Justine Law (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health), Matthew Bonn (0000-0002-6406-0171), Jurgen Rehm (0000-0001-5665-0385, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health), Farihah Ali (0000-0002-2968-3824, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 111 |
| Pages | 103933 |
| Publication date | 2023-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Drug Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0955-3959 • E-ISSN: 1873-4758 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103933 |
| PMID | 36529033 |
| OpenAlex | W4311927653 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 23 |
| References cited | 44 |
The overdose crisis in Canada has continuously evolved and is increasingly challenging to contain, while efforts from governments and policymakers to address it have often fallen short and resulted in unintended consequences. One of the main repercussions has been an unprecedented rise in adulterants in the illegal drug supply, including a wide array of pharmacological and psychoactive compounds and chemicals, which has resulted in a progressively toxic drug supply. Most recently, there has been a stark increase in synthetic benzodiazepine-laced opioids (i.e., 'benzodope') in some Canadian jurisdictions. This unique combination carries distinct and amplified risks for people who use drugs including fatal and non-fatal overdoses, increased dependence and withdrawal symptoms, and places them in extremely vulnerable positions. The emergence of benzodiazepines within the illicit drug supply has substantially contributed to drug-related morbidity and mortality in Canada, and has further complicated current public health initiatives and overdose prevention efforts. This reality underscores the need for effective and sustainable policy solutions to address the evolving overdose epidemic including increased knowledge and education on the specific harms of opioid and benzodiazepine co-use (especially in regards to the complexity of opioid/benzodiazepine overdoses), scaling-up harm reduction measures, and eliminating the toxic drug supply altogether
Benzodiazepine · Business · Drug · Drug overdose · Environmental health · Harm · Harm reduction · Heroin · Medical emergency · Opioid · Poison control · Political science · Public health · Unintended consequences · Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis · Law · Medicine · Nursing · Opioid Use Disorder Treatment · Poisoning and overdose treatments · Pharmacology
Trends in toxicological findings in unintentional opioid or stimulant toxicity deaths in Québec, Canada, 2012–2021
Drug-related death rates associated with prescribed and illicit benzodiazepine exposure among people receiving opioid-agonist treatment in Scotland, 2015 to 2020
Novel benzodiazepines in illicit drug use
Displacement and the disruption of drug use patterns and risks
Gender differences in the association between housing status and violence among people who report exposure to benzodiazepines
Possible effects of cheap fentanyl on drug markets, use, and harm
Decriminalization undone
Bridging the Gap in Harm Reduction Using Mobile Overdose Response Services (Mors) in the Context of the Covid-19 Pandemic
Understanding the rise in overdose deaths involving opioids and non-opioid prescription drugs in the United States
Challenges of implementing safer supply programs in Canada during the Covid-19 pandemic
A qualitative study exploring motives for the transition from injecting to smoking drugs in Vancouver, British Columbia
A qualitative evaluation of a fentanyl patch safer supply program in Vancouver, Canada
Evaluation of decriminalizing small amounts of illicit drugs in Victoria, BC
Preferred pharmaceutical-grade opioids to reduce the use of unregulated opioids
Prescription opioid use among people with opioid dependence and concurrent benzodiazepine and gabapentinoid exposure
Safer supply and political interference in medical practice
I Know So Many Women That Have the Same Story as Mine”
Removing barriers to care
Novel adulterants in unregulated opioids and their associations with adverse events
Comprehensive substance use services within primary care settings
Responding to an evolving crisis
Examining opioid agonist treatment (OAT) site operations and early signals of change in the first year of British Columbia’s drug decriminalization policy
The machine doesn't judge
Evidence synthesis - The opioid crisis in Canada
Addressing the Syndemic of HIV, Hepatitis C, Overdose, and Covid-19 Among People Who Use Drugs
Identifying New/Emerging Psychoactive Substances at the Time of Covid-19; A Web-Based Approach
Correlations between opioid mortality increases related to illicit/synthetic opioids and reductions of medical opioid dispensing - exploratory analyses from Canada
Towards cross-Canada monitoring of the unregulated street drug supply
Shifts in substance use patterns among a cohort of people who use opioids after delisting of OxyContin in BC, Canada
Changes in substance supply and use characteristics among people who use drugs (PWUD) during the Covid-19 global pandemic
Tackling the overdose crisis
Trajectories of retention in opioid agonist therapy in a Canadian setting
Opioid Drought’, Canadian-style? Potential implications of the ‘natural experiment’ of delisting Oxycontin in Canada
Safer opioid distribution in response to the Covid-19 pandemic
An outbreak of novel psychoactive substance benzodiazepines in the unregulated drug supply
Consumer agency in cannabis supply – Exploring auto-regulatory documents of the cannabis social clubs in Spain
Drug checking use and interest among people who inject drugs in Toronto, Canada
Regulating Cannabis Social Clubs
| Unique citing works | 23 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 7,67 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2026 (4) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 23 |