Fentanyl in Pressed Oxycodone Pills: A Qualitative Analysis of Online Community Experiences with an Emerging Drug Trend

Abstract

Objectives: There is a growing concern over the increased prevalence of fentanyl contaminated oxycodone pills, referred to as M30s. The current study is an examination of content on the Reddit social media site in order to understand the perceptions of and experiences with exposure to fentanyl contaminated M30 pills. Methods: Data include subreddit posts collected from January 1, 2021, to July 28, 2021, from 71 drug-related subreddits using 34 fentanyl-related search terms. A random subsample of 500 posts was examined for thematic analysis. 226 (45.2%) of posts were determined to be relevant and included in the final sample. Results: Over one-third (n = 85, 37.6%) of subreddit posts with mention of fentanyl were related to pressed M30 pills. Three emergent themes related to pressed M30 pills were identified: suspicion of contamination in oxycodone pills was pervasive (51.2%), composition of pills evoked anxiety (40%), and M30 mitigation and testing strategies (29.4%). Conclusions: Many persons on the online communities of Reddit who use drugs were aware of fentanyl contamination in the current pressed pill market. Reddit offered a space to network with others to discuss harm reduction strategies and anxieties surrounding the pervasiveness of fentanyl in the current drug market.

keywords:

• fentanyl
• pressed pills
• M30
• oxycodone
• Reddit
• social media;

Declaration of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

National Institute on Drug Abuse;

Funding acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health R25DA037190 (AB), K01DA053435 (AB), and K01 DA046697 (MM).