Philadelphia is in the midst of a drug overdose epidemic predominately driven by illicitly manufactured fentanyl. Simultaneously, deaths involving cocaine and methamphetamine are increasing particularly in combination with fentanyl. From 2016 to 2017, the number of cocaine deaths involving fentanyl increased by over 130%, while the number of methamphetamine deaths involving fentanyl increased by over 200%. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health seeks to monitor whether: The cocaine and methamphetamine supplies are being tainted with fentanyl, which could increase overdose risk in opioid naïve individuals; or fentanyl is being substituted for heroin to form a speedball, which is a mixture of heroin and a stimulant such as cocaine or methamphetamine. In this session, the presenter will explain how Philadelphia uses toxicology data from the Medical Examiner and drug seizure from the Drug Enforcement Agency’s National Forensic Laboratory and Information System to monitor and inform the response to these increases.

- Explain unique data systems that can be leveraged to monitor cocaine and methamphetamine trends.
- Describe the epidemiology of overdose deaths involving cocaine and methamphetamine.
- Identify how drug seizure data can help inform drug mixing patterns.