Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. Jun 19, 2024; 14(6): 760-766
Published online Jun 19, 2024. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v14.i6.760
Fentanyl and xylazine crisis: Crafting coherent strategies for opioid overdose prevention
Lakshit Jain, Jasleen Kaur, Shahana Ayub, Danya Ansari, Rizwan Ahmed, Abdul Qadir Dada, Saeed Ahmed
Lakshit Jain, Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut, Farmington, CT 06032, United States
Jasleen Kaur, Addiction Services Division, Connecticut Valley Hospital, Middletown, CT 06457, United States
Shahana Ayub, Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Living, Hartford, CT 06102, United States
Danya Ansari, Department of Medicine, Islamabad Medical and Dental College, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Rizwan Ahmed, Department of Medicine, Liaquat College of Medicine and Dentistry, Karachi 75290, Pakistan
Abdul Qadir Dada, Department of Medicine, Trinity School of Medicine, Roswell, GA 30075, United States
Saeed Ahmed, Addiction Services and Dual Diagnosis Unit, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford, CT 06105, United States
Author contributions: All authors made significant contributions to this paper; Ahmed S designed the overall concept and outline of the manuscript; Jain L, Kaur J, Ayub S, Ansari D, Ahmed R, and Dada AQ contributed to the discussion and design of the manuscript; and all authors contributed to the writing, editing of the manuscript, illustrations, and literature review.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Lakshit Jain, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06032, United States. lakshit.jain@ct.gov
Received: January 1, 2024
Revised: May 6, 2024
Accepted: June 4, 2024
Published online: June 19, 2024
Processing time: 170 Days and 11.4 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: This editorial addresses the escalating opioid overdose crisis in the United States, exacerbated by the use of fentanyl and the emerging threat of xylazine. Despite efforts like enhanced surveillance and distribution of test kits and naloxone, fentanyl-related deaths persist due to inconsistent state policies and resistance towards harm reduction strategies. The paper advocates for a multifaceted approach, including expanded treatment access, wider availability of medications for opioid use disorder, implementation of harm reduction strategies, legislative reforms, and reducing stigma associated with opioid use disorder.