WP 2

Among emerging drug problems, new psychoactive substances (NPS) still represent one of the main issues. Objective of this work package is to strengthen the current knowledge about the extent of NPS use in the general population and within specific cohorts (i.e. festivals attendees), with a particular emphasis on illicit and prescription synthetic opioids in Europe. This will be performed by combining qualitative and quantitative direct analyses of urban wastewater, urine from hospitals emergency rooms, post-mortem as well as pooled urine samples from festivals with the focus on synthetic and prescriptions opioids. In this way, an overview of the spatial and temporal distribution of NPS consumption in various European cities can be given.