Preliminary information shows there’s a disconnect between what drug users think they’re using and what they’re actually getting.
CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio — Drug overdose deaths are declining but they are still the leading cause of accidental deaths in Cuyahoga County and across the United States.
Now a new program at the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s office is helping scientists gain new insight into the epidemic that could help save lives.
“One of the reasons we have made progress is because we’re studying the problem,” Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Gilson said.
Gilson said the program involves expanding drug testing at the Cuyahoga County Regional Forensic Science Lab to include used syringes from current drug users, a population that he says is “very very hard to study.”
“I’d like to say there’s a simple answer but that’s the whole reason to do this kind of research because the different things you can learn will suggest different interventions to save people’s lives,” he said.
“I think it’s important to understand if there’s differences between what we see in overdose fatalities,” senior forensic epidemiologist Manreet Bhullar said. “If we can expand the data to people who are using drugs as well it gives us a bigger picture of what’s happening.”
Bhullar said they’re collecting the needles from syringe exchange programs at The Centers and at MetroHealth. Coordinator Stephanie Shorts said they collect one to 2,000 used syringes every day with their mobile unit, where drug users can exchange used needles for new ones. She said the exchange helps prevent them from sharing used needles with other users. It also helps prevent littering and the spread of diseases like HIV.
“I think what we’re trying to understand is who are the people using drugs and what drugs are they using,” Gilson said.
His office doesn’t know the identities of drug users who allow their syringes to be tested, but the exchange program staff know who they are and are sharing the test results with the users so they know what they’re taking.
“I think even the preliminary information we’re seeing there is this disconnect between what they think they’re using and what they’re actually getting,” Gilson said.
Out of 108 syringes tested so far, scientists found multiple drugs including Benadryl in 65%, fentanyl in 54%, xylazine in 49%, caffeine in 40%, meth in 35%, cocaine in 34% and heroin in 15% of the needles.
“It’s very concerning because everyone thinks they just have a bag of cocaine or a bag of heroin when in all reality you can have 10 to 15 compounds all in one bag and you don’t even know it,” said Shaena Taylor, the drug chemistry supervisor at the county forensic lab.
Scientists are also comparing the data they’re obtaining from testing the needles with what they already know about the hundreds who die from overdoses every year in Cuyahoga County.
“There’s just a lot of things we just don’t know about these folks who, you know, use drugs and don’t wind up in the medical examiner’s office. And it’s a very legitimate question to ask, is there something in their use of substances that’s different than the people who do wind up here? Because that’s big news if we can share that with people who use drugs we can save lives, save people coming to the ME’s office,” Gilson said.
The program is funded by a grant from the CDC. Gilson’s office expects to test around 1,000 needles in the first year of the program. They’ll share those results not only with drug users but also with the CDC and with the public on the county website.
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