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Trends in Fentanyl Content on Reddit Substance Use Forums, 2013–2021

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Abstract

Background

Fentanyl is a pressing concern in the current drug supply. Social media data can provide access to near real-time understanding of drug trends that may complement official mortality data.

Design

The total number of fentanyl-related posts and the total number of posts for eight drug subreddit categories (alcohol, cannabis, hallucinogens, multi-drug, opioids, over the counter, sedatives, stimulants) were collected from 2013 to 2021 using the Pushshift Reddit dataset. The proportion of fentanyl-related posts as a fragment of total subreddit posts was examined. Linear regressions described the rate of change in post volume over time.

Results

Overall, fentanyl-related content increased across drug-related subreddits from 2013 to 2021 (1292% increase, linear trend p ≤ 0.001). Opioid subreddits (30.62 per 1000 posts, linear trend p ≤ 0.001) had the most fentanyl-related content during the examined time period. Multi-drug (5.95 per 1000; p ≤ 0.01), sedative (3.23 per 1000, p ≤ 0.01), and stimulant (1.60 per 1000, p ≤ 0.01) subreddits also had substantial increases in fentanyl-related content. The greatest increases occurred in the multi-drug (1067% 2013:2021) and stimulant (1862% 2014:2021) subreddits.

Conclusion

Fentanyl-related posts on Reddit trended upward, with the fastest rate of change for multi-substance and stimulant subreddits. Beyond opioids, harm reduction and public health messaging should ensure inclusion of individuals who use other drugs.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health R25DA037190 (AB), K01DA053435 (AB), and K01 DA046697 (MM).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Population Health, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Amanda M. Bunting & Noa Krawczyk

  2. Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Thomas Lippincott

  3. Department of Public Health Nutrition, School of Global Public Health, New York University, NYC, NY, USA

    Yuanqi Gu

  4. Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony, Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA

    Simran Arya

  5. School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Suhas Nagappala

  6. Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Meredith C. Meacham

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  1. Amanda M. Bunting
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Correspondence to Amanda M. Bunting.

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Author NK is involved in ongoing opioid litigation. The remaining authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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Bunting, A.M., Krawczyk, N., Lippincott, T. et al. Trends in Fentanyl Content on Reddit Substance Use Forums, 2013–2021. J GEN INTERN MED 38, 3283–3287 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-023-08256-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-023-08256-7

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