How chemists are responding to the opioid epidemic

Scroll through your news feed on any given day, and you’re bound to come across the latest tragic story emerging from the opioid epidemic. Opioids—including illegal compounds like heroin, synthetic street drugs like fentanyl, and abused prescription painkillers like oxycodone—were responsible for more than half of the roughly 64,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Overdose deaths from opioids have nearly tripled in the past 15 years.

In the three stories of this package, C&EN explores how the chemistry community is helping tackle the crisis. Efforts include devising tamper-resistant formulations for painkillers and developing instrumentation that can quickly identify dangerous synthetics on the street. Chemists are also working on novel pain medications that could more safely and effectively provide relief to the millions of people suffering from chronic pain.