The real danger of drugs in the wastewater isn’t what you’d think

White House Shares First Data From Wastewater Drug-Testing Project

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has published its first report on wastewater-based drug testing, something that wasn’t commercially available during President Trump’s first term and has become of interest to the administration during his second term. The ONDCP claims the data will “empower local communities to respond to illicit drug use,” while effectively shining a spotlight on a small number of individual counties. The repo…

The real danger of drugs in the wastewater isn’t what you’d think

Drug use in America follows trends, something Straight Arrow has previously reported on. Now, a report from the Office of National Drug Control Policy shows how wastewater can detect some of those trends.  The report, called Wastewater Analytics: A Powerful Window into Shifting Drug Use Trends, studied wastewater samples from more than 100 counties, accounting for about 18% of the country. The ONDCP described the study as the largest wastewater …