The State of Our Ongoing Polydrug Use Epidemic
We're in the fourth wave of the opioid overdose epidemic.
By Mark S Gold
Published by Psychology Today on December 2, 2024
Key points
• The “Fourth Wave” of America’s opioid overdose epidemic is a polydrug use epidemic.
• A study of more than 4 million patients testing positive for fentanyl found 93% ingested additional drugs.
• A 2024 study found that 87% of music festival attendees planned to use at events. Polydrug use was common.
• Unintentional overdose deaths quadrupled from 2010-2022. Most were polydrug overdoses.
Many people assume when people have a substance use disorder (SUD), their issue is with one substance, such as alcohol or opioids. The reality is that most people with an SUD are polysubstance abusers.
