Guest editorial

Drug use reports are increasingly drawing attention to the risks attendant to the extra-medical use of prescription drugs among a variety of subpopulations. The field, which for years has been focussed on illicit drugs, has been taken unawares by the sudden rise in overdose mortality and blood-borne virus incidents associated with prescription drug use (Degenhardt et al., 2019; Farrell et al., 2019). Political agencies raising attention to aspects of this phenomenon have tried to tailor the problem to their mandate. The ministerial segment from the 62nd session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs has therefore focussed on opioid prescription drugs such as fentanyl and tramadol with extensive discussions over the need for concerted international action (UNODC, 2019a).