The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) and Governor’s Office have developed a wastewater testing program in public schools across the state to measure drug use. NMED is collecting wastewater samples at each school and using a commercial laboratory to analyze for the presence of 15 different opioids, stimulants, and their metabolites. The initiative aims to identify and address drug use in schools and inform data-driven decision making.
The results offer insight into how much and what types of drugs have been consumed by each school’s population, including students, faculty, staff, and visitors. NMED has created a map and chart of findings displaying school-level wastewater drug detections
