MINNEAPOLIS – A subtle shift was happening among clients at the north Minneapolis community drop-in center.
For years, people seeking substance abuse services at Anything Helps reported using just one drug of choice. Recently, staff noticed more and more users had expanded their appetite, preferring a combination of drugs at once versus “picking a lane.” The polysubstance abuse among their regulars soon evolved almost exclusively to one pairing of drugs in the majority of their clients: fentanyl and methamphetamine.
“That’s pretty new,” according to Brian Warden, the nonprofit’s harm reduction director. “That’s something we traditionally see in cities like Denver, San Francisco or Seattle. That’s not something we’ve really seen here.”…