High variation in purity of consumer-level illicit fentanyl samples in Los Angeles, September 2023–April 2025
We found high variation in IMF purity among samples sold as fentanyl, even among samples obtained on the same day, in the same location. This volatility likely plays a role in high overdose risk, even among people with opioid tolerance, in the fentanyl era. Further research is needed to compare these findings to other locations across the United States.
Authors
- Ruby Romero
- Michelle Poimboeuf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-7783-502X)
- Chelsea L. Shover (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0728-4101)
- Joseph Friedman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5225-3267)
- Morgan Godvin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5688-3904)
- Caitlin A. Molina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4795-116X)
- Bryce Pardo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9690-7875)
- David Goodman‐Meza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9382-3564)
- Adam J Koncsol (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5984-2577)
- Jasmine Feng
Institutions
- Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (US)
- UCLA Health (US)
- UNSW Sydney (AU)
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (AT)
- University of California San Diego (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- International Journal of Drug Policy
- Published
- 2025-08-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.104977
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 9.39