UNODC launches publication to help Member States counter opioid crisis

Recent years have seen a sharp global rise in opioid overdose deaths. While such deaths were initially localised in North America, they now occur in some European countries, attributable to street heroin adulterated with clandestinely produced fentanyl and its analogues.

To assist Member States in addressing this challenge, UNODC's Laboratory and Forensic Services Programme recently published a manual for forensic laboratories, entitled " Recommended Methods for the Identification and Analysis of Fentanyl and its Analogues in Biological Specimens".