11 NEWS AT FIVE CONTINUES. WHEN SOMEONE TESTS POSITIVE FOR FENTANYL, YOU바카라 게임 웹사이트�LL ALMOST ALWAYS FIND ANOTHER DRUG. AND IN MARYLAND AND MANY OTHER STATES, WHAT YOU FIND IS COCAINE. THIS JUST ONE REVELATION FROM A UNIQUE RESEARCH PROGRAM TRACKING DRUG USE IN MARYLAND. TONIGHT WE CONTINUE OUR 11 NEWS INVESTIGATES SERIES, CHRONIC PAIN MARYLAND바카라 게임 웹사이트�S OPIOID CRISIS. AND RESEARCHERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND HAVE BEEN UNCOVERING CRUCIAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE DRUGS ON MARYLAND바카라 게임 웹사이트�S STREETS. INFORMATION THAT CAN HELP DOCTORS SAVE LIVES. REPORTER MINDY BASARA JOINS US AT THE 11 NEWS LIVE DESK WITH MORE ON THIS UNIQUE PROGRAM. MINDY. REPORTER. IT바카라 게임 웹사이트�S IMPORTANT FOR MEDICAL PROVIDERS AND POLICYMAKERS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE DRUG TRADE IN MARYLAND. WHAT EXACTLY ARE THE SUBSTANCES PEOPLE ARE INGESTING? A GROUP OF SCIENTISTS IN COLLEGE PARK FIGURED OUT HOW TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION. THE RESULTS NOT SO SIMPLE. WE바카라 게임 웹사이트�RE SURRENDERING INTO A NEW, NEW WAY OF LIFE. WHAT IS THAT NEW WAY OF LIFE? JOE DUNCAN REMEMBERS THE MOMENT WELL. I WAS 15 YEARS OLD WHEN I FIRST PUT A NEEDLE IN MY ARM ON CHRISTMAS DAY, 1978. BY AGE 18, HE WAS ADDICTED. AND IN PRISON. THIS IS JOE. THE NIGHT HE GOT OUT. HE HAD BEEN LOCKED UP FOR 40 YEARS AND NINE MONTHS. I WAS ACTUALLY CLEAN FOR FOUR YEARS IN PRISON AND WHEN I GOT OUT THE FIRST NIGHT, I STARTED DRINKING AND SMOKING WEED AND IT JUST ESCALATED. HE TURNED TO HARDER STREET DRUGS AND REALIZED THE DRUG SCENE HAD CHANGED. DID THAT SCARE YOU AT ALL? YEAH, BECAUSE YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WERE DYING AROUND ME. WHEN A PERSON PURCHASES AN ILLEGAL DRUG ON THE STREET, THEY바카라 게임 웹사이트�RE PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULETTE. THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY바카라 게임 웹사이트�RE TAKING. DOCTOR ERIC WYCHE HAS BEEN A DRUG USE RESEARCHER HERE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK, FOR 32 YEARS. AND RIGHT NOW I바카라 게임 웹사이트�M RUNNING THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT DRUG SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM, WHICH IS A UNIQUE PROGRAM. HI, EVERYBODY. HEY, AARON. ARTEGIANI AND AMY BILLING ARE MEMBERS OF THE TEAM. THE PROGRAM, KNOWN BY THE ACRONYM EDZ, IDENTIFIES CURRENT DRUG USE TRENDS IN MARYLAND, NOT BY RELYING ON WHAT THE DRUG USERS TELL PEOPLE THEY INGESTED, BUT BY TESTING THEIR URINE SAMPLES. FOR SOME REASON, I WAS DRAWN TO URINE TESTING BECAUSE IT바카라 게임 웹사이트�S SUBJECTIVE AND OFTENTIMES WHEN YOU ASK PEOPLE ABOUT DRUGS, IT바카라 게임 웹사이트�S NOT SO CLEAR WHAT THEY TOOK. HERE바카라 게임 웹사이트�S HOW IT WORKS. WHEN SOMEONE IS EXPERIENCING AN OVERDOSE, THEY GO TO THE ER AND THEY GIVE A URINE SAMPLE. THE HOSPITAL IS ABLE TO CHECK FOR 10 OR 12 DIFFERENT DRUGS, BUT EDS IS ABLE TO FURTHER ANALYZE THAT DATA. BUT THAT바카라 게임 웹사이트�S JUST PART OF THE PROJECT. HOSPITALS ALSO SEND THEIR URINE SAMPLES TO EDS FOR RETESTING BECAUSE EDS CAN CHECK FOR UP TO 500 DIFFERENT DRUGS TO BE ABLE TO LEARN ABOUT A MUCH BROADER PANEL OF DRUGS AND WHAT THEY바카라 게임 웹사이트�RE WHAT THEIR PATIENTS ARE USING OR MAY HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO. IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THEM THAT THEY MAY NOT OFTEN GET. SO WE바카라 게임 웹사이트�RE ABLE TO TELL THE HOSPITALS WHAT THEY바카라 게임 웹사이트�RE MISSING. ONE THING THEY WERE MISSING FENTANYL. THE DRUG SCREEN THEY WERE USING DIDN바카라 게임 웹사이트�T PICK UP FENTANYL. WE SHOWED THEM THAT. AND THEN BECAUSE OF OUR RESEARCH STATE OF CALIFORNIA AND THE STATE OF MARYLAND PASSED LEGISLATION REQUIRING THAT PEOPLE COMING IN FOR OVERDOSE DOSES COMING INTO THE ED WHO ARE TESTED FOR DRUGS HAVE TO TEST FOR FENTANYL. WHEN EDS TESTED FOR FENTANYL, LOOK AT THE RESULTS. ALL 13 OF THESE HOSPITALS PARTICIPATING IN THE PROJECT FROM EVERY PART OF MARYLAND HAD OVERDOSE PATIENTS TESTING POSITIVE FOR FENTANYL. THE HOSPITALS WITH THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF FENTANYL POSITIVE CASES. UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MIDTOWN BALTIMORE, AT 81%, AND MERITUS MEDICAL CENTER IN HAGERSTOWN, 78%. AND EDS DISCOVERED THIS, TOO, WHEN SOMEONE TESTS POSITIVE FOR FENTANYL, YOU바카라 게임 웹사이트�LL ALMOST ALWAYS FIND ANOTHER DRUG. AND IN MARYLAND AND MANY OTHER STATES, WHAT YOU FIND IS COCAINE. AND THAT바카라 게임 웹사이트�S NOT ALL. EDS RESEARCH ALSO REVEALED THE PREVALENCE OF XYLAZINE, A HORSE TRANQUILIZER. ALL 13 HOSPITALS HAD PATIENTS TESTING POSITIVE FOR THAT DRUG AS WELL. AND THE URINE SAMPLES CONTAINING XYLAZINE USUALLY CONTAINED THESE OTHER DRUGS, 77% CONTAINED FENTANYL, 77% CONTAINED COCAINE, 67% CONTAINED MORPHINE, 11% CONTAINED AMPHETAMINE, 44% OF THE XYLAZINE POSITIVE SAMPLES CONTAINED THREE, IF NOT ALL FOUR, OF THESE OTHER DRUGS. HOW VALUABLE IS THAT SCIENCE DATA? WELL, IT바카라 게임 웹사이트�S REALLY CRUCIAL IN ORDER TO TO TARGET WHAT YOU바카라 게임 웹사이트�RE WHAT YOU바카라 게임 웹사이트�RE DOING AND MAKE SURE THAT YOU바카라 게임 웹사이트�RE REACHING PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE AND AND CONNECTING THEM TO THE SERVICES THEY NEED. YOU HAVE TO FIRST KNOW WHAT THEY바카라 게임 웹사이트�RE ACTUALLY BEING EXPOSED TO. UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MEDICAL CENTER DOCTOR ED TRAVER IS A PHYSICIAN ADVISOR FOR THE PROJECT. IT바카라 게임 웹사이트�S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS, ESPECIALLY THOSE IN THE HOSPITAL AND IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM, TO HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT THEIR PATIENTS ARE EXPOSED TO AND WHAT THEY바카라 게임 웹사이트�RE COMING IN WITH. WE KNOW THAT PEOPLE ARE EXPOSED TO LOTS OF DIFFERENT DRUGS. SOMETIMES WHEN THEY바카라 게임 웹사이트�RE NOT EVEN INTENDING TO BE. AND SO THIS IS A VALUABLE DATA SET TO KNOW WHAT바카라 게임 웹사이트�S ACTUALLY IN PEOPLE바카라 게임 웹사이트�S SYSTEMS. WHAT IS EDS WORKING ON NEXT? NOTHING. THE PROJECT ENDED. WE APPLIED FOR REFUNDING TO THE SAME AGENCY THAT HAD BEEN FUNDING US, AND IT WAS NOT FUNDED. NO STATE FUNDING MEANS NO MORE EDS, NO MORE URINE DRUG TESTING. WAS THAT A SURPRISE TO YOU? I THINK THE STATE HAS A LOT OF PRIORITIES IN TERMS OF COMBATING THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC, AND THIS EDS PROJECT WAS A REALLY IMPORTANT PROJECT TO PROVIDE SOME NEW INSIGHT INTO DRUG USE TRENDS. WE REACHED OUT TO MARYLAND바카라 게임 웹사이트�S OFFICE OF OVERDOSE RESPONSE FOR A REASON WHY EDS DID NOT RECEIVE STATE FUNDING. THE AGENCY EXPLAINED IN PART, PROJECTS WITH A PRIMARY FOCUS ON RESEARCH WERE NOT PRIORITIZED FOR FUNDING, AND RESEARCH WAS NOT LISTED AS AN ALLOWABLE COST. THERE ARE OTHER PROGRAMS IN MARYLAND IN OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY WHERE THEY SAY THEY바카라 게임 웹사이트�RE FOLLOWING WHAT바카라 게임 웹사이트�S GOING ON WITH THE DRUGS, BUT NO ONE IS RELYING ON THE URINE TESTS LIKE WE DO. SO YOU SURRENDER. AS FOR JOE DUNCAN, HE HAS BEEN IN RECOVERY FOR OVER A YEAR, HOPES HE CAN REACH OTHER ADDICTS BEFORE IT바카라 게임 웹사이트�S TOO LATE. I WANT PEOPLE TO SEE IF I CAN DO IT. I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT. DRUGS IS DESTROYING THIS COUNTRY. IT바카라 게임 웹사이트�S DESTROYING LIVES. BEFORE THE EDS PROGRAM CAME TO A HALT, RESEARCHERS WERE ABLE TO IDENTIFY A NEW DRUG EMERGING A VETERINARY SEDATIVE CALLED MEDETOMIDINE. IT바카라 게임 웹사이트�S SIMILAR TO XYLAZINE, BUT EVEN MORE POWERFUL AND THEREFORE MORE DANGEROUS. THE SCIENTISTS DID NOT GET A CHANCE TO FLESH OUT JUST HOW PREVALENT IT IS. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE OF THE COMPELLING INTERVIEW WITH RECOVERING ADDICT JOE DUNCAN, THE ENTIRE CANDID CONVERSATION IS ON OUR WEBSITE FOR 11 NEWS INVESTIGATES. I바카라 게임 웹사이트�M MINDY BECERRA. MINDY. THANK YOU. FOLLOW THIS WEEK SPECIAL SERIES ON THE OPIOID CRISIS HERE IN MARYLAND. RIGHT NOW IN THE WBAL TV APP, OUR INFOGRAPHIC EXPLAINS HOW YOU COULD HELP SAV