Los, Greg and Malczewski, A (2024) Synthetic opioids in Poland—A cause for concern or a media distraction? International Journal of Drug Policy, 133.

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Abstract

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.

Item Type:	Article
Identifier:	10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104595
Subjects:	Psychology > Substance abuse/misuse
Depositing User:	Marc Forster
Date Deposited:	18 Sep 2024 10:49
Last Modified:	18 Sep 2024 11:00
URI:	https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/12503

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