According to an NBC news story, the US is in the 4th wave of the opioid epidemic. This 4th wave is because emergency personnel are seeing overdose deaths caused by the combination of stimulants mixed with Fentanyl with those stimulants being cocaine and meth. The overdoses increased more than 50x from 2010 to 2021, a study found from the journal of Addiction. In 2021, one third or more than 34,000 people, died of a fentanyl overdose involving stimulants.
According to Chelsea Shover, an assistant professor in residence at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, thinks that the majority of overdose cases, the combined use was intentional because people combine stimulants and opioids, creating a “speedball”.
You can read the full article at https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fentanyl-stimulants-drives-fourth-wave-overdose-epidemic-us-rcna104953?fbclid=IwAR0rIAJxv730QKB7JSxo_47ZPfK8Rli0ivhZnoO3VAU4PrSQS8SQVddA7KU