Opioid Addicts Increasingly Seeking Out Illicit Fentanyl

Introduction

Unlawful fentanyl, one of the deadliest street narcotics, has evolved from a silent killer that people frequently try to avoid to one that many opioid users now actively seek out.

A troubling trend in the nation's ongoing opioid crisis is highlighted by the transition to purposeful fentanyl usage. According to specialists, an increasing number of people are resorting to synthetic drug, which is up to 50 times stronger than heroin, since they have grown accustomed to opioids like it.

Fentanyl was mostly used for recreational purposes on the West Coast up until recently, but addiction specialists have noticed a rise in fentanyl usage nationwide in recent years.

According to an addiction-focused psychiatrist at the Cleveland Clinic, a growing number of Ohio residents are turning to illegal fentanyl as their preferred drug.

Fentanyl is used in medical settings to treat individuals with extreme pain, such as those who have just had surgery. For usage at home, fentanyl skin patches are occasionally given for those with severe pain.

However, fentanyl entered the illicit drug market for the first time roughly ten years ago, mostly in regions east of the Mississippi River.

The white substance had the same appearance as heroin but cost a lot less. Drug traffickers began blending the two substances as a means of extending the supply of heroin. Additionally, fentanyl began to appear in non-opioid narcotics like cocaine and imitation copies of pharmaceutical medications.

Overdose deaths among users who weren't aware they were taking such a potent substance shot through the roof when fentanyl was covertly added to the supply of illicit drugs. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, fentanyl was a key factor in the majority of overdose deaths by 2021.

The head of the McLeod Addiction Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, has observed a shift in the state's drug use patterns in favor of fentanyl. She said that some people mistakenly purchased fentanyl when they believed they were purchasing heroin.

Since fentanyl does not produce the same high as heroin, a Berkeley, California-based epidemiologist who researches illegal drugs at the nonprofit research organization RTI International said he has heard from users that switching back to heroin is extremely difficult once they start using fentanyl.

Experts said that people are also increasingly smoking fentanyl rather than injecting it. A family and community medicine professor at the University of California, San Francisco, predicted that among people who take fentanyl alone, smoking will become commonplace within a year. In that, it reduces the danger of diseases like HIV, hepatitis C, and germs that can cause heart infections transferred by sharing needles, the switch from injecting to smoking could be viewed as a type of harm reduction.

Others were worried that since fentanyl is easier to smoke and frequently more enticing than to inject, it would lead to more widespread usage. Furthermore, there is no evidence that smoking fentanyl lowers the risk of fatal overdoses. Naloxone can cure fentanyl overdoses, although more of the medicine is required to do so because of its high potency. Additionally, compared to other opioids, the substance has a shorter-lasting high, necessitating more frequent usage by users to prevent withdrawal.

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