In this brief, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP) summarizes findings of polysubstance use among people who use opioids.
This publication by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP) discusses the use of multiple substances among people who also use opioids. The paper summarizes research in this area and discusses the impact of fentanyl; reasons for polysubstance use; unanswered questions; and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. The brief also spells out ways to make a difference in the future. In both the mass media and scientific reports, people who use drugs tend to be classified by the substances they use: as heroin, crack cocaine, or methamphetamine users. This classification obscures a central fact about illicit substance use, which is that most people who use drugs, and certainly most people who use illicit opioids, use multiple substances. Data confirm that polysubstance use is the norm.