KAISER HEALTH CARE: Stimulant users are caught in fatal ‘fourth wave’ of opioid epidemic

KAISER HEALTH CARE: Stimulant users are caught in fatal ‘fourth wave’ of opioid epidemic

In Pawtucket, Rhode Island, near a storefront advertising “free” cellphones, J.R. sat in an empty back stairwell and showed a reporter how he tries to avoid overdosing when he smokes

Fourth Wave of Opioid Deaths Blamed On Mixes of Drugs

It is impossible to tell whether a drug contains fentanyl by the taste or smell. “Somebody can believe that they can smell it or taste it, or see it … but that’s not a scientific test,” said Josiah “Jody” Rich, an addiction specialist who teaches at Brown University. “People are going to die today because they buy some cocaine that they don’t know has fentanyl in it.” The first wave of the long-running and devastating opioid epidemic began in th…