With this solicitation, NIJ seeks to establish and operate a Novel Psychoactive Substance Discovery, Education, and Reporting Institute (NPS DiscERn) to rapidly identify and report newly emerging opioids, stimulants, and other drugs which may cause intoxication, impairment, or other adverse effects.
The rapid emergence of NPS on global drug markets is a risk to public health and challenges traditional drug policy, regulation, testing, and enforcement opportunities. Often, little is known about the adverse health effects and social harms of these newly misused drugs, which poses a considerable challenge for prevention, treatment, and public safety efforts. The analysis and identification of a large number of chemically diverse and emerging substances present in nonregulated drug markets is demanding, requiring time, human, and supply resources that are already in short supply. Further, forensic drug chemistry and toxicology laboratories struggle to incorporate validated testing to address a never-ending flow of emerging NPS — many that will only be present in the illicit drug market for a few months. Identification, monitoring, information sharing, early warning, and risk awareness are essential in responding to these challenges. The mission of NPS DiscERn is to provide persistent and comprehensive monitoring of NPS in forensic and other relevant samples, both of solid drugs and toxicological samples. NPS DiscERn will provide near real-time trend reporting aligning with the rapid rise and decline of use of specific drugs in illicit markets. NPS DiscERn will apply and develop technologies to gain knowledge of what drugs are currently prevalent, disseminate methods for detection to forensic and public health laboratories, and lead to other work that may develop understandings of toxic effects to allow for rapid scheduling and interdiction. These actions may help to prevent overdose deaths through early warning.
Through these efforts, the NPS DiscERn will increase awareness surrounding emerging drug threats, provide tools to strengthen surveillance, testing, and uniform reporting, and educate criminal justice and public health professionals regarding the impact of NPS.
Deadline: April 30, 2024
An applicant may submit more than one application, if each application proposes a different project in response to the solicitation. Also, an entity may be proposed as a subrecipient (subgrantee) in more than one application.