Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent. It is a Schedule II prescription drug, and it is typically used to treat patients with severe pain or to manage pain after surgery. However, the drug is also illegally manufactured and distributed, and it has become a major cause of overdose deaths in the United States.
Who Buys Fentanyl?
Avoid An Overdose
Fentanyl is often bought by people who are struggling with addiction to opioids. The drug is cheap, easy to obtain, and highly potent, making it a popular choice among drug users. Fentanyl is often mixed with other drugs, such as heroin or cocaine, to increase their potency and addictive properties. This makes it difficult for users to know exactly what they are taking, and it increases the risk of overdose.
How Is Fentanyl Sold?
It Takes Only A Few Grains Of Fentanyl To Cause An Overdose
Fentanyl is sold in a variety of forms, including pills, powder, and liquid. It can be snorted, smoked, or injected. Fentanyl is also available in patches that are designed to be worn on the skin to deliver a steady dose of the drug over a period of time. Illegally manufactured fentanyl is often sold on the street in small plastic bags or balloons.
Who created fentanyl?
Fentanyl was first prepared and developed by Dr. Paul Janssen in 1959 under a patent held by his company Janssen Pharmaceutica. As a potent analgesic that is almost a hundrend times stronger then morphine, the use of fentanyl as a pain reliever and anesthetic was quickly adopted in the medical setting.
Experts say if Texas wants to solve the overdose problem, officials here must fully realize the state has an overall drug issue that goes beyond fentanyl. Fentanyl products are intended to be administered by or taken under the instruction of a healthcare professional. While healthcare professionals write fewer prescriptions each year, most pain specialists continue to prescribe it to patients in excruciating pain. Data suggest illegal manufacturers supply most of the fentanyl that is used illicitly.
General Harm Reduction Mess​aging
Is It Legal to Buy Fentanyl?
No, it is not legal to buy fentanyl outside of a legitimate prescription from a licensed physician. Possessing or distributing fentanyl without a prescription is a felony, and it can result in severe penalties, including imprisonment and fines.
The high potency of fentanyl means that even small amounts can cause an overdose. Cayla Clark grew up in Santa Barbara, CA and graduated from UCLA with a degree in playwriting. Since then she has been writing on addiction recovery and psychology full-time, and has found a home as part of the Guardian Recovery team. In the coming years, DHS will continue partnering with industry to complete narcotics data collection for government-owned spectral libraries and will initiate a new Opioid Investigation and Intelligence Project to support ICE HSI. In 2019, SwabTekTM introduced new field kits with dry test strips capable of detecting fentanyl and other dangerous narcotics. The single-use recyclable spot test uses a paper strip with dry reagent test zones applied to the strip surface.
FAQs
- What is fentanyl? Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent.
- Who buys fentanyl? Fentanyl is often bought by people who are struggling with addiction to opioids.
- How is fentanyl sold? Fentanyl is sold in a variety of forms, including pills, powder, and liquid.
- Is it legal to buy fentanyl? No, it is not legal to buy fentanyl outside of a legitimate prescription from a licensed physician.
Fentanyl is often added to other illicit pills and powders without people’s knowledge. This is because it costs less to produce than other opioids, and because a small amount goes a long way. In Boston, in fact, heroin is rarely found in the illicit supply. Fentanyl is a powerful drug that was designed to be used as a pain-relieving medicine called an analgesic. But it has come to play a major role in drug overdoses and substance use disorders across the United States. Fentanyl is an extremely potent opioid that offers significant pain relief to those who live with severe acute or chronic pain conditions.
There is no way to know how much illicit fentanyl may be contained in a drug you plan to use or how potent it is. However, fentanyl test strips are available at certain health departments or syringe exchange programs, so you can test the drug you plan to use for fentanyl. Synthetic narcotics like fentanyl, meanwhile, have shot up the ranks of causes of overdose deaths.
Fentanyl can be ‘diverted’ meaning that when the medication is prescribed by a medical professional, it’s not used as directed, or is given or sold to a third party. Compton said the major priority right now is finding a way to treat the extreme exposures to fentanyl and carfentanil. The key may be upping the dosage of methadone or buprenorphine, so a user can’t get high off fentanyl, or increasing access to these medication-assisted therapies. But he also floated a fentanyl vaccine as one potential option for the future. Compton said his office has seen medical reports that describe doctors needing a continuous IV of naloxone, rather than the typical single injection, in order to reverse an overdose. The big unanswered question with fentanyl revolves around whether or not it can override this cross-tolerance blockade.
Did the Sacklers go to jail?
The Sackler family was never criminally charged despite facing a series of lawsuits. Instead, Purdue had to pay hefty fines for misleading the public.
Dealers will often use simple binding agents and a small amount of fentanyl when making counterfeit opioid pills or what they say is heroin, according to law enforcement. Due to high levels of stress, first responders and health care workers are at risk for substance use disorders. The Heroes Helpline is a free, confidential, telephone support line available to EMS and health care workers. Callers can access free peer support, learn how to navigate treatment and referral services, and receive information on employment and licensing concerns.
Conclusion
- Many fake pills are made to look just like prescription Xanax (bars), Percocet (perk), opioids (painkillers) like Vicodin and Oxycodone (oxy), and stimulants like Adderall (addy).
- As technology continues to advance, the illicit drug trade advances with it.
- There is an Addiction Medicine Clinic through Ventura County Medical Center that offers MAT to patients that generally have a co-occurring secondary mental health or physical health complication.
Fentanyl is a dangerous and highly addictive drug that is responsible for a significant number of overdose deaths in the United States. It is illegal to buy or possess fentanyl without a prescription, and doing so can result in severe penalties. If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction to opioids, it is important to seek help from a qualified medical professional.
How many fentanyl deaths in 2023?
In 2023 the overdose death rate topped 112,000 in a 12 month period for the first time, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
