Fentanyl overdose deaths increasing; facts to be aware of
According to the Citrus County (Florida) Sheriff's Office, the drug fentanyl is now the leading cause of drug overdoses within the local community. It's almost impossible to know if a substance has been laced with this dangerous drug until it’s too late. Just a small amount amount of this drug can turn any night into your last night.
According to a video posted on the agency's Facebook page, every day, 117 people die of opoid overdoases; fentanyl is 100 times more deadly than morphine, 20 times more deadly than heroin and 1.4 more deadly than a car crash. See the video here: fb.watch/7QxeyDRpQm.
At the end of the video, the CCSO lists the phone numbers and websites of local agencies to contact if you need help with drug-related problems:
• LifeStream Behavorial Center, www.lsbc.net, 866-355-9394 or 352-228-4470.
• Florida Department of Health in Citrus County, http://citrus.floridahealth.gov, 352-527-0068.
(• Florida Department of Health in Levy County, FL: http://levy.floridahealth.gov, 352-486-5300.)
• Zero Hour Recovery, www.ZeroHourLifeCenter.org, 352-765-4943.
• Anti-Drug Coalition, www.AntiDrugCitrus.com, 352-601-6620.
• SMA Healthcare (formerly known as Ecclesia), www.SMAHealthCare.org, 352-291-5555 or 352-244-9294.
• Groups Recover Together, www.JoinGroups.com, 407-392-0849.
Facts about Fentanyl by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Forms of Fentanyl Citrate
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid typically used to treat patients with chronic severe pain or severe pain following surgery. Fentanyl is a Schedule II controlled substance that is similar to morphine but about 100 times more potent. Under the supervision of a licensed medical professional, fentanyl has a legitimate medical use. Patients prescribed fentanyl should be monitored for potential misuse or abuse.
Illicit fentanyl, primarily manufactured in foreign clandestine labs and smuggled into the United States through Mexico, is being distributed across the country and sold on the illegal drug market. Fentanyl is being mixed in with other illicit drugs to increase the potency of the drug, sold as powders and nasal sprays, and increasingly pressed into pills made to look like legitimate prescription opioids. Because there is no official oversight or quality control, these counterfeit pills often contain lethal doses of fentanyl, with none of the promised drug.
There is significant risk that illegal drugs have been intentionally contaminated with fentanyl. Because of its potency and low cost, drug dealers have been mixing fentanyl with other drugs, including heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine, increasing the likelihood of a fatal interaction.
Producing illicit fentanyl is not an exact science. Two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal, depending on a person’s body size, tolerance and past usage. DEA analysis has found counterfeit pills ranging from .02 to 5.1 milligrams (more than twice the lethal dose) of fentanyl per tablet. 26% of tablets tested for fentanyl contained a lethal dose.
Drug trafficking organizations typically distribute fentanyl by the kilogram. One kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people. It is possible for someone to take a pill without knowing it contains fentanyl. It is also possible to take a pill knowing it contains fentanyl, but with no way of knowing if it contains a lethal dose.
According to the CDC, synthetic opioids (like fentanyl) are the primary driver of the increases in overdose deaths in the United States, increasing 38.4% during the 12-month period ending May 2020. During this period:
• 37 of the 38 U.S. jurisdictions with available synthetic opioid data reported increases in synthetic opioid-involved overdose deaths.
• 18 of these jurisdictions reported increases greater than 50 percent.
• 10 western states reported over a 98% increase in synthetic opioid-involved deaths.
Twelve-month provisional drug overdose death counts
Twelve-month provisional drug overdose death counts for all drugs, synthetic opioids, cocaine, and psychostimulants, for 50 states, the District of Columbia, and New York City: 12-months ending in June 2019 to 12-months ending in May 2020 - www.emergency.cdc.gov/han/2020/han00438.asp.
Unless a drug is prescribed by a licensed medical professional and dispensed by a legitimate pharmacy, you can't know if it’s fake or legitimate. And without laboratory testing, there’s no way to know the amount of fentanyl in an individual pill or how much may have been added to another drug. This is especially dangerous because of fentanyl's potency.
