If fentanyl is so deadly, why do drug dealers use it to lace illicit drugs?

A person taking prescription fentanyl as instructed by a doctor can experience dependence, which is characterized by withdrawal symptoms when the drug is stopped. A person can be dependent on a substance without being addicted, but dependence can sometimes lead to addiction. When someone takes opioids like fentanyl and mixes it with other substances, the chance for health risks, addiction, and overdose is far more common. Additionally, mixing drugs like fentanyl with other substances such as alcohol increases the risk of overdose exponentially.

Therefore, if these abnormal breathing patterns persist, medical attention is advised, particularly if the person complains of other symptoms too. Fentanyl comes in pills, or white powder form sometimes referred to as ‘China Girl’ (slang for fentanyl). Because fentanyl is a powerful drug, it can induce a rapid and intense high, particularly when crushed pills or powder are dissolved in water and injected. We asked American University Professor of Psychology David Kearns to explain why fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are so addictive, so prevalent, and so dangerous.

What is Fentanyl?

Most illicitly manufactured fentanyl (and the chemicals used to produce it) comes from China or Mexico, and the US government has not been successful at stemming its flow into the country. It’s become an epidemic that is endangering our national public health and destroying communities across the nation. Like other opioid addictions, medication with behavioral therapies has been shown to be effective in treating people with a fentanyl addiction. SUDs are characterized by compulsive drug seeking and drug use that can be difficult to control, despite harmful consequences. When someone is addicted to drugs, they continue to use them even though they cause health problems or issues at work, school, or home.

Some drug dealers are mixing fentanyl with other drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and MDMA. This is because it takes very little to produce a high with fentanyl, making it a cheaper option. This is especially risky when people taking drugs don’t realize they might contain https://ecosoberhouse.com/ fentanyl as a cheap but dangerous additive. They might be taking stronger opioids than their bodies are used to and can be more likely to overdose. To learn more about the mixture of fentanyl into other drugs, visit the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Drug Facts on fentanyl.

Fentanyl: The New Talk Between Parents and Teens

The Substance Use Advisory Group is working toward preventing fatal overdoses, destigmatizing substance use disorders (SUDs), promoting harm reduction and supporting affected individuals into treatment and recovery. Assume that any pill or drug not purchased directly from a pharmacy could contain fentanyl. This includes illicit drugs (cocaine, heroin, meth, etc.) as well as how long does fentanyl stay in your system prescription medications (Xanax, Oxycodone, etc.). Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times more potent than heroin or morphine. Despite the number and diversity of its analogs, fentanyl itself continues to dominate the illicit opioid supply. Milligram per milligram, fentanyl is roughly 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.

It is used predominantly in cancer patients or individuals suffering from chronic pain. Like heroin, morphine, and other opioids, fentanyl binds to the body’s opioid receptors, increasing dopamine levels in the brain and quickly producing an incredibly potent but short-lived high. However, it can also produce devastating physiological effects that can lead to death. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid typically used to treat patients with chronic severe pain or severe pain following surgery.

What is fentanyl and why is it behind the deadly surge in US drug overdoses?

While your doctor can prescribe fentanyl, there are many areas of concern when taking the drug. If you know or think someone is struggling with addiction, ask them if you can help. Your concern might be just what they need to start their recovery journey, and your support could make all the difference in their success. For parents who are concerned about their kids using drugs, Dr. Lev recommends having age-appropriate conversations about the dangers of drugs even before middle school, which is when drug use often begins.

If administered in time and in a sufficient dose (or doses), the opioid antidote naloxone (Narcan) may be able to reverse a fentanyl overdose and respiratory depression. Even though an online pill identifier might show that a pill bought on the street looks like a legitimate prescription pill because it has the same color, shape or imprint code, this is most likely NOT true. Illegal drug manufacturers create fake opioid pills to look exactly like the real ones. You cannot tell if a pill, powder, nasal spray or injection bought off of the street contains a deadly dose of any drug just by looking at it.

Get Help for Fentanyl Addiction Today

When combined with a potent opioid like fentanyl, this slows the respiratory system leading to an overdose that results in death. Mixing different types of opioids also puts people at high risk for abuse and addiction. But even in the controlled conditions of a hospital, there is still a risk that using fentanyl can reduce breathing rates to dangerously low levels, the main cause of opioid overdose deaths.

• Because fentanyl is a powerful drug, it can induce a rapid and intense high, particularly when crushed pills or powder are dissolved in water and injected.
• Fentanyl is commonly added to heroin to increase its potency and can be disguised as highly potent heroin.
• The opioid crisis has only intensified as more illicit drugs have entered the market.
• Opponents of harsher penalties pointed to the failed enforcement policies of the crack cocaine epidemic as a reason to reject harsher sentences.
• Manufacturers may also add bulking agents, like flour or baking soda, to fentanyl to increase supply without adding costs.

In the same period from October 2021 to June 2022, federal authorities seized 8,300 pounds. In March the FDA approved Narcan, a brand name of naloxone, for sale over the counter — meaning it can be sold in other places, like gas stations and convenience stores, in addition to pharmacies. California has also received millions from the consulting firm McKinsey & Company for its role in advising opioid companies, and from generic opioid maker Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. The state is awaiting settlement payouts from multiple other drug manufacturers and big box pharmacies. The remaining money  — $133 million — comes from opioid manufacturers, distributors and their partnering consulting firms as part of settlements for their participation in fueling the prescription opioid crisis. Perhaps most notably, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, owned by Johnson & Johnson, and three wholesale distributors agreed to pay $26 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits brought by cities and counties nationwide.

Xylazine can be life-threatening and is especially dangerous when combined with opioids like fentanyl. The driving force behind a record-breaking 100,000 overdose deaths per year, fentanyl is now being laced in traditional opioids like oxycodone and heroin, and increasingly, in non-opioids like cocaine and various counterfeit pills. Many street drugs are intentionally contaminated with fentanyl because of its potency and low cost and is consumed unknowingly. Drug dealers cut fentanyl into heroin or press it into pills and sell them as different drugs such as Xanax or Oxycodone.

• Fentanyl’s potency, addiction potential, and accessibility are why it’s become such a significant risk to public health.
• Illicit forms of fentanyl are mainly manufactured by drug cartels in Mexico and are spreading in the U.S.
• The city’s mayor, Todd Gloria, issued an executive order in November that mandates that the San Diego Police Department prioritize both enforcement of fentanyl dealing and booking those accused of fentanyl dealing into jail.