Fentanyl-Drug Info

Fentanyl is a very powerful and addictive pain medication.

Recently an outbreak of overdoses and deaths involving Fentanyl in combination with heroin and cocaine have been reported in a number of urban areas including Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Camden.

Fentanyl is roughly 50 to 80 times more powerful than morphine. It is used to treat moderate to severe pain issues and given to patients that have built up a tolerance to narcotic pain medication. However , when made by illegal labs it is produced in a powder form that can be substituted for or mixed with Heroin. Being much more powerful than Heroin the user will use the same amount that he is has used in the past but not knowing that the Fentanyl has been added to the mix he can overdose, causing death.

In just one week 33 people died in the Detroit area alone from this Fentanyl mix, in a 8 month time frame as many as 100 people have died in the same area.

Below is a portion of a letter written by the Director of the center for substance abuse. A link is provided at the bottom of this letter for more information.

A combination of street drugs– taken together – is having a lethal effect in a number of communities across the country. The root cause of these deaths appears to be the addition of fentanyl – a powerful narcotic analgesic – to heroin or cocaine being sold on the street. Fentanyl, prescribed most often by physicians to treat patients with severe or chronic pain, is 50-100 times more powerful than morphine.

You may have been reading and hearing about clusters of drug-related deaths in Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, and, most recently, Detroit. In just one week, an estimated 33 individuals in the Detroit areaare reported to have died after using this fatal mix of drugs; the same drug combination may have been responsible for over 100 deaths in the same region since last September. As an individual involved in the

public health, you need to be aware of this new “killer drug combination,” and you need to be prepared toalert patients, clients, and others in order to help save lives.

When used illegally, particularly in combination with a drug such as heroin or cocaine, or when used in excessive amounts, fentanyl can result in irregular heartbeat, the inability to breathe, and death. In some cases, heroin or cocaine users are aware they are purchasing this dangerous combination of drugs; in other cases, the buyer is not aware that he or she is purchasing this potentially lethal drug combination.

THE ISSUE

• An outbreak of overdoses and deaths involving fentanyl combined with heroin or cocaine

has been reported in a number of urban areas in the United States, including, among

others, Chicago (IL), Detroit (MI), Philadelphia (PA), and Camden (NJ).

• The majority of overdoses and deaths related to fentanyl in combination with heroin or

cocaine that are now being reported do not appear to be from the misuse of prescriptiongrade

fentanyl.

• These reports have led to local Drug Enforcement Administration and Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention investigations as well as local–and national – health

Information efforts to alert first responders, hospital emergency rooms, health care

Providers, and the community about this new public health problem.

WHAT IS FENTANYL

• Fentanyl, a schedule II prescription narcotic analgesic, is roughly 50-80 times more

potent than morphine. This medication is used to manage both pain during surgery and

for persons with chronic moderate to severe pain who already are physically tolerant to

opiates.

• However, fentanyl also can be produced in clandestine laboratories in powder form and

mixed with or substituted for heroin.

Source; H. Westley Clark, M.D., J.D., MPH. CAS, FASAM.

Director Center for Substance Abuse Treatment

http://www.samhsa.gov/news/newsreleases/06%20Fentanyl_heroin.pdf

To speak to a counselor call 1-877-744-3536

Addiction Rehab Help

Fentanyl-Drug Info

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