Fentanyl Dangers

[disneysteve]

Personally know 3 families that have lost a son in their teens or twenties to Fentanyl. These are upper middle class families that are not economically disadvantaged. However, almost all of my kids friends have some kind of "anxiety" issues. I think social media puts a lot of pressure on young minds. Did my share of stupid in high school, but seems to be much more serious today. Overdose deaths are 100k+ per year so something different is definitely going on.

My brother died of an overdose in 1987. Good solid loving successful family. It doesn’t matter. It can impact anyone.

 

[easysurfer]

This might sound cold and insensitive but how stupid are the dealers? They're killing their customers. I wonder where these drugs are coming from. Fentanyl seems to show up everywhere masked by other seemingly innocent drugs. Let's be honest, in college we experimented quite a bit. And trusted each other. No real harm came to us. Kids will try anything once. But all it takes is once with fentanyl.

The thought of Fentanyl just sounds so scary. I had the same initial thought too about the dealers killing their customers. But sometimes I wonder are the dealers killing their customer or killing potential witnesses? I may be wrong but perhaps Fentanyl is so popular that the dealers aren't short of customers.

 

[stepford]

The scary thing about Fentanyl is how very small a dose can be lethal. With illicit drugs from another era - even the hard nasty ones like cocaine, meth and heroin - one could generally try a small amount and have a reasonable expectation of not dying. I'm not saying that kind of playing with fire was a good idea, but it seems the risk is now at a whole new level with Fentanyl.

 

[disneysteve]

This might sound cold and insensitive but how stupid are the dealers? They're killing their customers.

Drug dealers have been killing their customers for as long as there have been drug dealers. That's nothing new. Whether it is cocaine or heroin or fentanyl or wet or meth or PCP or anything else.

 

[Gallaher]

As I’m writing, this news in the background is reporting on fentanyl overdoses.
Nephew, was a really nice 35 year old. Never achieved anything other than a couple of children. He dropped out of school in about sixth grade…parents let him!
Always dealt with substance abuse.
Truly one of my favorite family members. Very nice guy.
Died of fentanyl overdose last July.
RIP Johnny.

 

[Ronstar]

Fentanyl overdoses will continue to be a problem as along as there is a demand. Slow the demand with arrests and incarcerations. Society needs a serious deterrent to wanting and taking fentanyl.

 

[disneysteve]

Fentanyl overdoses will continue to be a problem as along as there is a demand. Slow the demand with arrests and incarcerations. Society needs a serious deterrent to wanting and taking fentanyl.

Arrests and incarcerations do nothing as far as treating substance use disorders.

 

[Ronstar]

Should have treatment as part of incarcerations.

 

[JBTX]

I’ve read that in Mexico illicit pills are manufactured to look almost exactly like certain legit prescriptions. In terms of fentanyl pills, they (illegal manufacturers in Mexico) increased the “standard” dosage to accommodate addicts who need more. The problem is the typical pill dose now is likely lethal for someone who has never used it before. Apparently the pill costs $5 give or take.

 

[wearefinishedworking]

Our 30 year old son texted us today that a high school classmate of his had died this week of fentanyl use. So tragic.

 

[aja8888]

This might sound cold and insensitive but how stupid are the dealers? They're killing their customers. I wonder where these drugs are coming from. Fentanyl seems to show up everywhere masked by other seemingly innocent drugs. Let's be honest, in college we experimented quite a bit. And trusted each other. No real harm came to us. Kids will try anything once. But all it takes is once with fentanyl.

Around here, they are smuggled in along the Mexican border. Many get caught, but many get through. Then a city like Houston where the big dealers are cuts the shipments and distributes north. There are TV specials showing agents searching vehicles.

It's a multiBillion dollar business.

 

[disneysteve]

Should have treatment as part of incarcerations.

I totally agree that we need more and better treatment programs and better mental health care which underlies a lot of drug issues. I don’t know how putting people in jail helps anything.

 

[skyking1]

fentanyl is very powerful, Carfentanil is 100 times more potent and deadly. People die from incidental contact with it, not even trying to get high. It has been the cause of children's fatalities.
Raise your hand, who has naloxone (narcan)?
I don't. I keep rationalizing that I don't know anyone who would need it, but in the face of the epidemic anyone can fall victim.

 

[aja8888]

fentanyl is very powerful, Carfentanil is 100 times more potent and deadly. People die from incidental contact with it, not even trying to get high. It has been the cause of children's fatalities.
Raise your hand, who has naloxone (narcan)?
I don't. I keep rationalizing that I don't know anyone who would need it, but in the face of the epidemic anyone can fall victim.

We have two family members on Suboxone (Sp?) (forever, I believe) due to opioid addiction.

 

[skyking1]

I think you are possibly talking about methadone?

 

[Gumby]

I think you are possibly talking about methadone?

Nope. I'm pretty sure he means Suboxone. Suboxone Uses, Dosage, Side Effects & Warnings - Drugs.com Suboxone

 

[Ronstar]

I totally agree that we need more and better treatment programs and better mental health care which underlies a lot of drug issues. I don’t know how putting people in jail helps anything.

Maybe jail isn’t the right place. But treatment should be mandatory- not something that people can take part in if they want to.

We have a friend whose daughter is essentially a vegetable- she refuses treatment. People like her should be forced to take treatment and not allowed to leave until healed.

 

[latexman]

At the end of the day in any drug treatment/rehab program, the addict’s willpower is the only thing stopping them from relapsing. Just say NO!

 

[JoeWras]

No good deed goes unpunished.
In the last decades, baby changing stations were added to public restrooms. These are now being removed in the rest areas in my state. Why? Stations are used as drug staging areas, residue left behind, baby can absorb tiniest amount of residue and die.

Not my state, but here's a supporting news report about the problem:

Drug use in public restrooms poses danger to babies in diapers

Police in Kent caught someone using drugs in a gas station restroom — using a baby changing station as a tabletop.

www.wytv.com

 

[CDRE]

Lethal dose of fentanyl:

source: Preventing Opioid Overdose: Focus on Fentanyl

 

[disneysteve]

Maybe jail isn’t the right place. But treatment should be mandatory- not something that people can take part in if they want to.

We have a friend whose daughter is essentially a vegetable- she refuses treatment. People like her should be forced to take treatment and not allowed to leave until healed

You can’t force people to undergo or comply with medical treatment. I was in family practice for 24 years. I wish I could have made my patients take their blood pressure meds, diabetes meds, depression meds, antibiotics, and other meds. They would have been far better off and suffered a lot less if they had but it doesn’t work that way. Substance abuse treatment is no different. Even if you can get someone to agree to enter a Suboxone treatment plan, you still can’t force them to take the pills every day and attend the therapy sessions and avoid the people in their lives who are enabling their disease.

Another issue is that treatment is expensive and often not covered by insurance. Patients may need to pay hundreds of dollars per month for outpatient treatment and inpatient treatment can cost thousands.

 

[disneysteve]

At the end of the day in any drug treatment/rehab program, the addict’s willpower is the only thing stopping them from relapsing. Just say NO!

Willpower is important but it’s certainly not the “only” thing. It’s a disease. Someone can no more will that away than a diabetic can will away their uncontrolled blood sugar. There needs to be lifelong treatment.

 

[kgtest]

Sad story, but affording over 600 homes? Is that a typo? Even 6 would be a lot, let alone 600.

In many cases, I heard other drugs are laced with fentanyl, such as in street meds being sold as other pain killers and "Xanax", and mixed in with cocaine and other drugs, so it isn't necessarily being chosen. And more recently, I've heard of them being laced with an animal tranquilizer called xylazine ("Tranq"), making it even more dangerous.

Whoops, typo. 600k homes.

 

[Gumby]

What to do about self destructive drug addicts is one of the thorniest moral issues of our time. On the one hand, we recognize that they are people just like us who have a disease, and we believe we should attempt to cure them, or at least alleviate their symptoms. On the other hand, there is always the issue of self determination. If human agency is to have any meaning, it means one should have the power to choose the time, place and manner of one's own demise. I have neither the right nor the responsibility to prevent another person from choosing to end their life. I believe that most of the people who take these drugs are well aware of the consequences, and they are, in effect, choosing slow (and unpredictable) suicide. Who am I to say they're not allowed to make that choice?

 

[Aerides]

I believe that most of the people who take these drugs are well aware of the consequences, and they are, in effect, choosing slow (and unpredictable) suicide. Who am I to say they're not allowed to make that choice?

Well yes and no, certainly some, but not the younger ones. Teens and young adults that want to party do not think they are going to die. Many of them that do they are taking something "fun" and get fentanyl without even knowing it.

I'm sure I'm not alone in confessing a lot of fun during college and my early 20's. The most we had to worry about then was something added to weed, but most of that was just wild stories - most drug dealers were not in the business of added more expensive drugs to the cheap ones.