Fentanyl is a very potent synthetic opioid that was originally developed for medical practices beginning in the 1960s. Fentanyl is like morphine but up to 100 times stronger. In recent years Fentanyl has been widely used to cut heroin to increase the intoxicating effects to cause more euphoria. Fentanyl is responsible for causing accidental overdoses leading to death all across the country and globe. Fentanyl is produced and prescribed legally for people who suffer from severe chronic pain.
It is, however, also produced illegally in China and Mexico and sold illegally in the drug addiction culture throughout the United States. More and more drug dealers are buying Fentanyl illegally to cut heroin and even other non-opioid drugs that are sold on the streets.
CBS News reported that one person in San Francisco died and eight others were hospitalized after they took what they believed to be Xanax, when in fact the Xanax look-a-like pills contained Fentanyl. CBS News has reported the following:
At least one San Francisco-area drug user died, and eight more landed in the ER in late 2015 after taking counterfeit Xanax tablets that had been cut with a powerful and dangerous opiate…The nine people all had taken tablets that looked very similar to prescription Xanax, down to bearing the same pharmaceutical markings as the legitimate anxiety drug.
Dr. Ann Arens, a former ER physician at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital said that the tablets had been definitely cut with fentanyl.
They look exactly the same, and the users that were exposed to these tablets had no idea it was anything other than what they thought they were buying. (CBS News).
When buying pills off the streets, addicts never truly know what’s in them. Often they are cut with other chemicals and narcotics, making this behavior especially risky and dangerous.
Fentanyl Found in Fake Xanax and Norco Pills
When it comes to Norco, this is a prescription pain reliever that contains hydrocodone and acetaminophen, and when sold on the streets has also been found to contain Fentanyl. The New York Times reported that:
The victims took what they believed to be Norco, a prescription drug made up of acetaminophen and hydrocodone that is used to treat pain” as stated by Laura McCasland, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services. (NYT)
Unfortunately, both these cases are representative of how viscous the illegal Fentanyl drug trade is and that it is not only heroin addicts who are dying and at risk. The illegal manufacturing of Fentanyl has caused a huge increase of death amongst the drug addict culture. The Center for Disease Control, CDC, reports that the increase in 2017 of accidental opioid overdoses is related to the illegally produced Fentanyl.
Overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone, which includes fentanyl, increased by almost 47% from 2016 to 2017. Roughly 28,400 people died from overdoses involving synthetic opioids other than methadone in 2017. Reports from law enforcement indicate that much of the synthetic opioid overdose increase may be due to illegally or illicitly made fentanyl. According to data from the National Forensic Laboratory Information System, confiscations, or seizures, of Fentanyl increased by nearly 7-fold from 2012 to 2014. There were 4,585 Fentanyl confiscations in 2014. This suggests that the sharp rise in fentanyl-related deaths may be due to the increased availability of illegally made, non-pharmaceutical fentanyl, and not prescribed fentanyl. (CDC)
The problem of Fentanyl laced drugs is no longer restricted to heroin or other opiate drug addicts. In the past Fentanyl was a heroin addicts problem, now that it is being found in other drugs, the illegal manufacturing is reaching other types of addicts. The plain truth is the reality of how dangerous it is to be a drug addict in general but even more so with Fentanyl in existence. The solution is to end the problem of addiction. Without addiction, there would be no illegal drug manufacturing and or accidental overdoses. If you or a loved one is addicted to drugs, there is a way to prevent the disease of addiction from causing an accidental overdose or death.
The programs at Recreate Life Counseling are successful because they treat specific addictions and provide each client with individualized treatment. If you or your family member needs help for an addiction, reach out to one of our treatment program representatives. They will be able to get you or your loved one admitted quickly.