Overdose deaths involving fentanyl have quadrupled in recent years. Because of the so-called “War on Drugs” and criminalization of people who use drugs, people often are unaware of the exact composition of the substances they’re using. This makes evidence-based harm reduction strategies such as fentanyl test strips, safety planning, and access to safe supply more vital than ever. Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids have now surpassed heroin and prescription painkillers as the deadliest drugs in the United States. They killed more than 19,000 Americans in 2016, topping heroin (15,000) and prescription opioids (14,000) for the first time. Because fentanyl is so potent and commonly found in the drug supply, it is easy for people to accidentally overdose on fentanyl.
- Drug overdose is a leading cause of preventable death in the U.S.
- If you choose to use fentanyl, there are some practices that can help you minimize the risk of an overdose.
- Naloxone is used to reverse the life-threatening effects of an overdose.
- Hypoxia can lead to a coma, permanent brain damage, and even death.
- Share these #OnePillKills graphics (ZIP) to increase awareness about the fentanyl crisis.
Why Is It So Dangerous?
Naloxone/naltrexone are robust opioid antagonists that function by blocking µ-receptors. The FDA has approved these antidote medications for emergency treatment of patients with known or suspected opioid overdose experiencing respiratory and/or central nervous system (CNS) depression. Common routes of naloxone administration include IV, IM, IN, or subcutaneous (SC). Researchers have recently posed a caveat regarding the intranasal route for naloxone administration. Since the incidence of obstructive nasal pathology is relatively high in patients who experience serious OIRD, there is documentation of relevant instances of treatment failures when using the IN formulations. Fentanyl can be added to heroin for increased potency or be distributed under the guise of highly potent heroin.
Fentanyl belongs to a class of drugs known as opioids, which also includes morphine, hydrocodone, and oxycodone. It is estimated to be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, leading to its rising misuse and the significant opioid crisis. It is often contained in illicit drugs without the user’s knowledge. It may be laced into other illegal street drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, fake opioid pills, or methamphetamine (“meth”). It is relatively cheap to make and allows an illicit drug manufacturer to stretch their product, make it more powerful and addictive, and gain more money for themselves. Naloxone is a medication that can reverse an overdose from opioids, including fentanyl.
Fentanyl typically relaxes you and puts you in a euphoric state. You may also feel dizzy, drowsy, have vision changes, or have unpleasant side effects such as dry mouth, stomach pain, or anxiety. Some opioids come directly from the opium poppy plant, but manufacturers make fentanyl in a lab and reproduce the chemical structure. One line is a positive result and means there is fentanyl in your drug supply.
Health And Safety
Many states have laws that protect not only the person who calls for help, but also the person overdosing from legal trouble. Some people take fentanyl illegally by separating it from skin patches and injecting it. This overdose rate has continued to rise in part because fentanyl is often mixed into or sold as other drugs. Because fentanyl is so strong, it takes only a small dose of the drug to cause death. While it’s safe for your doctor to give you fentanyl in a medical setting, some people abuse it, which can lead to an overdose.
It is commonly mixed with drugs like heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine and made into pills that resemble other prescription opioids such as oxycodone. Drugs mixed with fentanyl are extremely dangerous, and many people may be unaware that their drugs contain fentanyl. Naloxone (Narcan) is an antidote for fentanyl and other opioid overdoses.
Can A Person Overdose On Fentanyl?
The biggest risk factor is that people are often exposed unintentionally and don’t know to take the proper precautions to use this drug safely. Fentanyl and fentanyl analogues (some stronger than fentanyl, some weaker) are not “naloxone resistant.” They are opioids and will respond to naloxone if someone is overdosing. The investigators didn’t actually execute a purchase, because even a small amount of fentanyl can be lethal.
Street Names For Fentanyl
A 17-year-old boy was found unresponsive, with pinpoint pupils and a slow respiratory rate. He was treated by EMTs with naloxone, and his mental status and respiratory rate improved. He was admitted to an intensive care unit for observation. His brother reported that the boy had taken a blue tablet labeled “M30,” which the boy believed to be oxycodone. A urine test was positive for both fentanyl and cocaine (from Joynt & Wand, 2021).
How Do I Respond To A Fentanyl Overdose?
If you or someone you know is showing these symptoms, it is important to seek professional help immediately. Users and family members should have immediate access to naloxone (Narcan), an opioid agonist medication that rapidly reverses opioid overdose. Due to its potency, it has a high potential for addiction and overdose. First responders will likely administer naloxone if you haven’t already, or give it to them again. Naloxone only works in the body for 30 to 90 minutes, so it’s possible for someone to still have overdose effects after the medication wears off or needs multiple doses. Although fentanyl patches are a legal form of the drug doctors sometimes prescribe for pain, they are easily abused.
Syringe service programs provide support, information, naloxone, and other harm reduction supplies to people who use drugs, including people who take pills, smoke, inject, and more. Please contact your local public health authority (link) to learn more about services nearest to you. Powdered fentanyl looks just like many other drugs that come in powder form.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration estimates more than 258,000 people died from fentanyl overdose between 2013 and 2021. Fentanyl acts like many other opioids such as morphine and heroin. Sometimes people freeze fentanyl patches and cut them into smaller portions.
Communicable Disease Emergency Response
Drugs mixed with fentanyl are extremely dangerous, and many people may be unaware that their drugs contain it. In addition to receiving treatment for a substance use disorder, people who use illegal drugs can help prevent overdoses by using fentanyl test strips. These are low-cost paper strips that can detect fentanyl in all kinds and forms of substances. Other strategies to prevent overdose deaths include lowering the entry barrier to addiction treatment, fentanyl test strips, supervised consumption sites and even prescription diamorphine (heroin).
A fentanyl overdose can occur after the drug is injected, swallowed, snorted, or smoked. Symptoms of a fentanyl overdose, including slow or absent breathing, generally occur within minutes of the overdose. Death can follow quickly if the overdosed person isn’t treated. To prevent accidental fentanyl overdoses, you can use fentanyl test strips to ensure other drugs don’t contain the opioid. You can get them free through some outreach programs, such as needle exchanges or overdose prevention programs. Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated 106,840 overdose deaths over the 12-month period ending in September 2022.
When used as prescribed, it is also very effective in treating cancer pain or other types of severe chronic pain that don’t respond to other pain medicines.1,2,3 Read more about opioids on the NIDA website. Opioids are a class of drugs that include both prescription medicines such as morphine and illegal drugs like heroin. All narcotic drugs — including fentanyl, heroin, and legal opioids like morphine — cause the pupils to constrict. Having “pinpoint pupils” is one symptom of overdose, especially if the pupils do not dilate in response to changes in light. Fentanyl can be made to look like cocaine, heroin, or prescription opioids in pill or powder form.
How To Tell If Someone Has Overdosed On Fentanyl
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that was originally developed as an analgesic – or painkiller – for surgery. It has a specific chemical structure with multiple areas that can be modified, often illicitly, to form related compounds with marked differences in potency. That said, while test strips are helpful, they’re not 100% effective. For drugs in pill forms, you might be testing a part of the pill that doesn’t have fentanyl in it.
These effects may include confusion, drowsiness, nausea, visual disturbances, constipation, muscle stiffness, and many others. Using a single dose of Naloxone (Narcan) can reverse these symptoms in seconds and save lives. Get the facts on the effects, uses and health risks of this herbal substance. If you suspect someone is experiencing an overdose, the CDC recommends following the steps below. A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee today endorsed over-the-counter sales of the overdose reversal drug Narcan. This is the captive audience Hernandez takes advantage of, walking in front of the assembled people, holding brightly colored public health brochures above her head.
