CREW Code: CRW2023_10

Theme: Water Quality and Health 

Project status: Project complete. Click here to visit the publication page to view the project outputs.

Type of project: Capacity Building

Lead research team: The James Hutton Institute

Scotland faces a critical public health crisis with one of the highest drug-related death rates in the developed world. Polysubstance use further complicates this issue, creating unpredictable health risks for users. Efforts to address this crisis include the National Drugs Mission Plan (2022–2026), which emphasizes reducing drug-related deaths through improved data collection and harm reduction strategies. The RADAR system (Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response) plays a pivotal role in providing early warnings about emerging drug trends, such as the rise of potent synthetic opioids like nitazenes, enabling timely policy responses. However, existing approaches to monitor psychoactive substance use are limited by their time-consuming nature and inability to provide real-time data on drug consumption dynamics. Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WWBE) offers a promising solution by analysing psychoactive substance residues in wastewater to deliver robust, dynamic, and timely insights into drug use patterns. This project explored the feasibility of leveraging Scotland’s existing wastewater monitoring infrastructure to enhance early warning systems like RADAR and support public health initiatives.

This project has completed. Click here to visit the publication page to view the project outputs.