Schumacher Joseph E, Ahsan Abdullah, Simpler Amber H, Natoli Adam P, Cain Bradley J, Chindavong Peter S, Yarcan Aren
NaphCare Charitable Foundation, Inc., 2101 Old Columbiana Road, Suite 100, Birmingham, AL, 35216, USA.
Natoli Services, LLC, 1315 10th St., PO Box 1192, Huntsville, TX, 77342, USA.
Addict Sci Clin Pract. 2025 Jul 24;20(1):57. doi: 10.1186/s13722-025-00588-5.
Widespread use of fentanyl in combination with methamphetamine in carceral settings presents unique health risks and public health challenges. To contribute to continued efforts to understand drug use among first-time arrestees, this study characterizes the nature and extent of urine drug screenings (UDS) positive for fentanyl and/or methamphetamine among first-time arrestees receiving healthcare in 25 jails across the U.S. This study used the same data source, data extraction, sample selection, and UDS variables as those reported by Schumacher et al. (2025) and a similar data analytic strategy which included 81,842 arrestees with a UDS or 28.8% of total arrestees (283,884). Among first-time arrestees with complete results (43,553), 32,561 or 74.8% of arrestees tested positive for any drug and among those, 14,426 (44.3%) were positive for fentanyl and/or methamphetamine. Of those, 59.8% and 11.5% were only positive for methamphetamine or fentanyl, respectively, while 28.7% were positive for both. Demographically, individuals testing positive for both fentanyl and methamphetamine were predominantly white young adults (aged 20-39), with similar co-occurrence patterns in males and females. Fentanyl alone was more common in southern and midwestern jails and mega-sized jails, methamphetamine was more common in medium-large and southern jails, and their co-occurrence was most common in western and large jails. Approximately 97.5% of first-time arrestees tested positive for two or more drugs, with individuals testing positive for five or more drugs significantly more likely to test positive for both fentanyl and methamphetamine. This study highlights the significant prevalence of methamphetamine and/or fentanyl use among first-time arrestees, underscoring the urgent need for targeted interventions, improved in-jail substance use treatment, and post-release support to mitigate overdose risks and enhance public health outcomes.
芬太尼与甲基苯丙胺在监禁场所的广泛联合使用带来了独特的健康风险和公共卫生挑战。为助力持续深入了解首次被捕者的吸毒情况，本研究对美国25所监狱中接受医疗保健的首次被捕者尿液药物筛查（UDS）中芬太尼和/或甲基苯丙胺呈阳性的性质和程度进行了描述。本研究使用了与舒马赫等人（2025年）报告相同的数据源、数据提取、样本选择和UDS变量，以及类似的数据分析策略，其中包括81,842名进行了UDS检测的被捕者，占被捕者总数（283,884人）的28.8%。在有完整检测结果的首次被捕者（43,553人）中，32,561人（占被捕者的74.8%）的任何药物检测呈阳性，其中14,426人（44.3%）芬太尼和/或甲基苯丙胺检测呈阳性。其中，仅甲基苯丙胺或芬太尼检测呈阳性的分别占59.8%和11.5%，两者均呈阳性的占28.7%。从人口统计学角度来看，芬太尼和甲基苯丙胺检测均呈阳性的个体主要是白人青年（20 - 39岁），男性和女性的共现模式相似。仅芬太尼在南部和中西部监狱以及大型监狱中更为常见，甲基苯丙胺在中型 - 大型和南部监狱中更为常见，两者同时出现的情况在西部和大型监狱中最为常见。约97.5%的首次被捕者两种或更多药物检测呈阳性，检测出五种或更多药物呈阳性个体同时检测出芬太尼和甲基苯丙胺呈阳性的可能性显著更高。本研究凸显了首次被捕者中甲基苯丙胺和/或芬太尼使用的显著普遍性，强调迫切需要有针对性的干预措施、改善监狱内物质使用治疗以及释放后支持，以降低过量用药风险并改善公共卫生结果。
