Fentanyl -- the scariest drug around

Special to Wesson News

Fentanyl is the scariest drug among the array of choices of substance abusers, according to an authority who works with communities to curb its use.

“Doctors administer fentanyl in a relatively safe form to relieve pain, but the illicit form that can be manufactured in homes and drug dealers mix with other drugs to increase their addictive power is deadly,” Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist Ashley Washington told attendees at a Co-Lin Institute for Learning in Retirement (ILR) workshop.

Washington, who works for the Region 8 Mental Health Drug and Alcohol Treatment program, said fentanyl, which is a 50 times more powerful addictive drug that heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine, is responsible for 60 percent of drug overdose deaths – some 250,000 in 2024.

When inhaled, she explained, it attaches opiate receptors in the brain, slows breathing and heart rate, producing a deep relaxed and euphoric state.

“Two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal,” Washington said.  “To get an idea of how small an amount that is, consider a small packet the sweetens your coffee or tea contains 1,000 milligrams of sugar.”

Because of the small amount needed, drug dealers can easily mix it with other drugs, such as marijuana, heroin and cocaine to keep their addict customer coming back for more, or even contaminate patches, IVs and pills, Washington added.  “It’s easy to consume and hard to detect,” she pointed out.

Withdrawal from fentanyl is intense and painful, affecting the user both physically and mentally, Washington said.

Washington said safe, healthy homes should keep Narcan kits in the medicine cabinets as a norm like first aid kits.  Narcan, administered by injection or as a nasal spray, is fentanyl antidote that can save someone who has overdosed – all too often a youth who is experimenting with drugs.