Fentanyl, the Newest and Most Dangerous Opioid

Fentanyl, the newest and most dangerous opioid. 

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50-100 times stronger than morphine. Medicinal fentanyl was developed for the pain management treatment of cancer patients and applied in a patch on the skin. Because of its powerful opioid properties, Fentanyl is also diverted for abuse. Fentanyl is added to heroin to increase its potency, or be disguised as highly potent heroin. Many users believe that they are purchasing heroin and don’t know that they are purchasing fentanyl – which often results in overdose deaths. People use fentanyl because it is cheap to manufacture and a small amount goes a long way. Junior Braxton Cleveland said, “I feel like a lot of medical drugs get used as illegal drugs, and it’s concerning.”

Kim Reynolds our Iowa governor proposes these for punishments relating to Fentanyl; 

• Increasing penalties for manufacturing fentanyl, delivering fentanyl, or possessing it with the intent to deliver fentanyl. 
• Enhancing sentences for fentanyl crimes that cause death or serious injury, or involve minors. 
• Expanding distribution of medications like naloxone that can reverse opioid overdose.
• 50 grams of fentanyl and more will now carry prison sentences of up to 50 years and a fine of up to $1 million. 
• 5 grams but not more than 50 grams of fentanyl will now carry prison sentences of up to 25 years and a fine of up to $100,000. 
• 5 grams or less of fentanyl will now carry prison sentences of up to 10 years and a fine of up to $50,000. 

And in some cases, fentanyl can be disguised as regular medicine such as Tylenol and Seraphim. Some street names include; Apache, China girl, China town, China white, murder 8, jackpot, poison, TNT, tango, and cash. It is often impossible to tell if a powder or pill contains fentanyl. You can’t see it, smell it or taste it. Even your dealer might not know what they are selling or how strong it is. Sophomore Noah Duff said, “I didn’t know fentanyl was such a problem until I saw like 6 ads in one day.”

Because fentanyl is so strong, the difference between a dose that will get you high and a dose that can kill you is very small. You can overdose even if you use someone’s prescription patch and know the dose. Everyone handles fentanyl differently. One person’s dose can kill another person. If you are using other drugs at the same time, for example, other opioids, alcohol, or sedatives such as Xanax, Valium, or Ativan the risk of overdose is even higher. Fentanyl test strips can identify the presence of fentanyl in unregulated drugs. They can be used to test injectable drugs, powders, and pills. Sophomore George Stewarts says, “Fentanyl seems like a pretty big issue, but I haven’t seen anything about Waukee or even Iowa about it. I guess Kim Reynolds has added punishments for it but other than that I don’t know.”

DEA has issued a public warning to the public and law enforcement nationwide about the health and safety risks of carfentanil. Carfentanil is a synthetic opioid that is 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl. Improper handling of carfentanil, as well as fentanyl and other fentanyl-related compounds, has deadly consequences.