Analysis of the dynamics of the detection of narcotic substances in chemical-toxicological analysis and cases of poisoning and deaths due to their use in adults in the Ryazan region for the years 2019–2023

Abstract

In this cross-sectional retrospective study aiming to assess the profile and dynamics of drug misuse over the past 5 years in the Ryazan region, the reports of the chemical-toxicological laboratory of the Ryazan Regional Clinical Addictions Outpatient Facility (for the years 2019–2023), case histories of patients with poisoning by narcotic substances (for the years 2022–2023) and data of death records of drug poisonings (for the years 2019–2023) have been analyzed. The total number of positive drug samples was found to have increased 1.5 times (with a peak in 2022). There is a trend towards the decline of synthetic cannabinoids, with methadone taking its place. Synthetic cathinones account for about 1/3 of all samples, natural cannabinoids for about 1/4. Only 1/3 of patients with suspected drug poisoning receive laboratory confirmation of the narcotic etiology of intoxication. Every other one of the confirmed cases was taking methadone, so naloxone can be recommended to all patients in the early stages of therapy. The total number of deaths from drug intoxication equals 0.2% of all deaths. Among those who died, as among those who were poisoned, more than 90% were middle-aged men, and methadone and synthetic cathinones dominated among the causes identified.