Why the painkiller fentanyl is so dangerous – 08/30/2023 – Equilibrium and Health

As a medicine, fentanyl reduces pain, but intake must be closely monitored. Taken in an uncontrolled way as a narcotic, it can compromise perception, reduce the respiratory rate, cause states of coma and, in the worst case scenario, death. In the United States alone, in 2021 there were more than 70,000 victims of the substance that causes addiction in a short time.

WHAT APPLICATIONS DOES FENTANYL HAVE?

Fentanyl is stronger and more effective than other opioid analgesics such as morphine, oxycodone and hydromorphone. It is given for end-stage cancer or after a more serious surgical procedure. A member of the class of synthetic opioids, it is known for its exceptionally high potency, being 50 times stronger than heroin and 70 times stronger than morphine.

As it acts on the central nervous system, fentanyl is also used in medicine as an anesthetic: it puts the patient in a state of deep sleep, in which he feels no pain and relaxes. The dosage depends on the general condition and the severity and duration of the intervention.

The ministration must be carefully monitored by medical professionals or others. They must ensure that the patient receives enough oxygen, because even small amounts of fentanyl can cause life-threatening respiratory depression from lack of oxygen, particularly to the brain and heart.

IN WHAT FORM IS FENTANYL SELLED?

Fentanyl can be administered intravenously. In this way, it acts very quickly, as it goes straight into the bloodstream. Consumed in an uncontrolled manner as a narcotic, there is a risk of overdose and consequent death.

The substance is also sold in powder form, which many addicts inhale, or ingest pills, made from the powder pressed in clandestine drug factories, especially in Latin America. Dosing is also difficult, and even two milligrams can be lethal.

Drug patches, also known as transdermal fentanyl, are used in medicine to provide continuous pain relief over a long period. Clinics, doctors’ offices and pharmacies now often pay close attention to the proper and safe disposal of fentanyl patches because addicts keep trying to get discarded units into the trash can.

Fentanyl can also be vaped and inhaled. This form of administration can also easily result in overdose.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF FENTANYL?

Fentanyl appeared as a drug in the 1970s. Illicit production increased rapidly from 1980 to 1990, reaching alarming proportions in the 2000s. As it became more widespread, so did the number of addicts and deaths, especially in the United States. .

Many of the substances needed to make the synthetic compound come from China. From there, they are exported to Latin America, where they are processed in clandestine factories and sold on the black market.

According to the American Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), which combats drug trafficking, in the US more than 50.6 million pills and more than 4,500 kilograms of fentanyl powder were seized in 2022. The agency says that’s equivalent to “more than 379 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl”—enough to kill nearly all of the 333 million people in the United States.