The opioid crisis has only intensified as more illicit drugs have entered the market. Drug overdose deaths reached a record high in 2021, with more than 100,000 people lost to the continuing epidemic, fueled by the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl. The drug, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, can be up to 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times that of morphine. Illicit forms of fentanyl are mainly manufactured by drug cartels in Mexico and spreading in the U.S.
What is fentanyl?
Fentanyl is a heavily regulated legal medication, prescribed largely for pain relief in cancer patients, postsurgery and for people with chronic pain who have developed tolerance for other opioids.
When prescribed by a doctor, fentanyl can be given as a shot, a patch that is placed on a person’s skin, as lozenges that are sucked like cough drops or film that sits between the cheek and gum, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Inc. It also can be sprayed in the nose or under the tongue.
The illicit form of fentanyl, a powder that is often mixed into other drugs, has overtaken the drug market in the U.S. Fentanyl is made in clandestine labs in Mexico from easily sourced chemicals.
Fentanyl is a heavily regulated legal medication, prescribed largely for pain relief in cancer patients and postsurgery.
Photo:
Bing Guan/Bloomberg News
Which drugs are typically laced with fentanyl?
Fentanyl is often found mixed into heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine, according to the CDC. The drug is also made into fabricated pills that are often indiscernible from commonly prescribed medications such as Percocet (the narcotic oxycodone), Xanax (the sedative alprazolam) or even Adderall (an amphetamine).
Chinese chemical companies are making more ingredients for illegal fentanyl than ever, including N-Phenyl-4-piperidinamine, which Mexican cartels purchase to make into fentanyl.
Drug manufacturers in Mexico also mix illicit fentanyl with other materials, such as baking soda, starch…
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