Education about the risks of fentanyl use, increased access to naloxone, and comprehensive addiction treatment programs are crucial in addressing this crisis. If you or someone you know is struggling with fentanyl use, it is essential to seek professional help. Recovery is possible with the proper support and treatment. While the dangers of addiction to fentanyl cannot be understated, one should not focus on addiction but on the dangers of the drug itself, with or without addiction. Overdose rates have skyrocketed for nonmedical use, whether in those addicted or from accidental deaths.
Once Feared, Illicit Fentanyl Is Now A Drug Of Choice For Many Opioid Users
Using a drug that has been contaminated with or replaced by fentanyl can greatly increase the risk of a life-threatening overdose. However, an emergency medicine called naloxone can reverse an opioid overdose related to fentanyl. If used correctly, fentanyl test strips can detect the presence of the most common types of fentanyl in street drugs and pills.
Read More About Drug Overdoses In The US
If using fentanyl on your own, understand the dangers and seek professional treatment to help you quit. Make sure your physician knows about all of your medications before taking fentanyl. A couple purchased some marijuana and smoked it on their couch. The woman woke up on the floor several hours later and found her partner unresponsive. She called EMS, and they were brought to an emergency room.
Bruce Willis’ Wife Emma Heming Willis Opens Up About Being His Caregiver, Need For More Support
- From Xanax to cocaine, drugs or counterfeit pills purchased in nonmedical settings may contain life-threatening amounts of fentanyl.
- And at the state Capitol and with policy-makers, we’re advocating for balanced policy on fentanyl, especially increasing access to treatment across the state.
- Fentanyl is often mixed with other drugs like heroin, crack, or cocaine.
- “This is just the first of many studies to come that can potentially stop the large trade of opioids,” Champagne-Langabeer said.
From April 2024 to March 2025, the CDC reported 43,000 synthetic opioid deaths, most of which are from fentanyl, down from nearly 70,000 in the previous similar period. Alternatively, some people may take illegally manufactured fentanyl for its heroin-like effect. Sometimes, individuals mix it with other drugs because of its potency. A person exhibiting the symptoms of overdose should get immediate medical attention. With an overdose of fentanyl, the brain experiences hypoxia. Sometimes, a person with opioid dependence may take fentanyl as a substitute for heroin.
Prevention Tips
They found people who were purchasing for personal use — including seven who overdosed and died — as well as the people buying to set up their own distribution network in America. Others were concerned that because smoking fentanyl is easier and often more appealing than injecting it, it could result in more widespread use. And there’s no data to suggest that smoking fentanyl reduces the risk for fatal overdoses.
Efforts To Prevent Fentanyl Overdoses
Fentanyl has steadily moved westward in the USA during the past decade 3; its presence began rising in California in 2017, and fentanyl was involved in 88% of opioid overdose deaths by 2022 4. In Alameda County, CA, where this study was conducted, fentanyl-related overdoses began to rise in 2019 and reached an age-adjusted rate of 12/100,000 by 2022. This contrasts with San Francisco County, a mere 13 miles away, where the age-adjusted rate was three times as high (36/100,000) in 2022. Rates of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone, which includes fentanyl and fentanyl analogs, increased over 22% from 2020 to 2021. The rate of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids in 2021 was nearly 22 times the rate in 2013. Nearly 71,000 drug overdose deaths involved synthetic opioids other than methadone in 2021.
An 11-month-old girl swallowed a blue tablet she found while crawling around a new apartment. Additional testing was positive for fentanyl, methamphetamine, acetaminophen, and tramadol (from Joynt & Wand, 2021). Fentanyl can last for a few hours when taken orally or when snorted, smoked, or injected. The transdermal patches can last for up to 12 to 24 hours after the patch has been removed. While some urine drug screens can detect fentanyl, others do not.
If Fentanyl Is So Deadly, Why Do Drug Dealers Use It To Lace Illicit Drugs?
As the chief of medical toxicology at UMass Chan Medical School, I have studied fentanyl and its analogs for years. As fentanyl has become ubiquitous across the U.S., it has transformed the illicit drug market and raised the risk of overdose. From Xanax to cocaine, drugs or counterfeit pills purchased in nonmedical settings may contain life-threatening amounts of fentanyl.
These strips can be a useful harm reduction tool for people who drugs. Fentanyl test strips may not be able to detect all forms of illicit fentanyl and they cannot tell you how much fentanyl may be present. There can also be false positives (showing that fentanyl is present when it really isn’t). The process of testing methamphetamine is different than testing opioids and uses more water. 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.
How Do Opioids Affect The Body?
Information provided by NIDA is not a substitute for professional medical care or legal consultation. One measure to prevent fentanyl overdose is distributing naloxone to bystanders. Naloxone can reverse an overdose as it occurs by blocking the effects of opioids. Fentanyl is both sold alone and often used as an adulterant because its high potency allows dealers to traffic smaller quantities but maintain the drug effects buyers expect. Manufacturers may also add bulking agents, like flour or baking soda, to fentanyl to increase supply without adding costs. As a result, it is much more profitable to cut a kilogram of fentanyl compared to a kilogram of heroin.
- Its potency and widespread availability have contributed to a dramatic increase in opioid-related deaths.
- People take fentanyl to help with pain (such as cancer pain) that other medicine has not been able to help with.
- Naloxone can reverse an overdose as it occurs by blocking the effects of opioids.
- If a person has a susceptibility to addiction, then it is a situation where the person is more likely to develop a substance use disorder.
- Overdose deaths involving fentanyl have quadrupled in recent years.
Similar data related to nonfatal drug overdoses are reported through CDC’s Drug Overdose Surveillance and Epidemiology (DOSE) system. This webpage is regularly updated to display the most recent final drug overdose death data published annually by NCHS. NCHS systems receive and analyze data from death certificates, including cause-of-death information reported by state and local medical examiners and coroners. Because drug overdose deaths often require lengthy investigations, data are updated as new information is received. Opioids are pain killers that people sometimes use recreationally for their euphoria and relaxation effects. Fentanyl has medical uses, primarily to control severe pain after surgery and in advanced-stage cancer treatment.
People use fentanyl because it is cheap to manufacture and a small amount goes a long way. Many individuals consume fentanyl without knowledge while others use it intentionally because of its potency. Due to its potency, it has a high potential for addiction and overdose. The person should receive immediate medical attention for supportive care and to ensure the emergency has ended. When it’s in powdered form, it looks a lot like other powdered drugs such as cocaine.
High-potency opioids such as fentanyl, oxycodone (Oxycontin, Roxicodone) and methadone (Methadose, Methadone HCl Intensol) typically have more-serious risks. Do not stop using fentanyl without talking to your doctor. If you suddenly stop using fentanyl, you may experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Help educate your loved one on the risks of fentanyl and make sure they know these harm reduction strategies.
