National Fentanyl Awareness Day – May 9, 2023

 

Fentanyl is involved in more deaths of Americans under 50 than any cause of death, including heart disease, cancer, homicide, suicide and other accidents. Learn more at fentanylawarenessday.org and spread the word to save a life. Illicit fentanyl is driving the recent increase in US drug overdose deaths.  According to the CDC, 107,375 people in the United States died of drug overdoses and drug poisonings in the 12-month period ending in January 2022.  A staggering 67 percent of those deaths involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl.  Some of these deaths were attributed to fentanyl mixed with other illicit drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin, with many users unaware they were actually taking fentanyl. Only two milligrams of fentanyl is considered a potentially lethal dose; it’s particularly dangerous for someone who does not have a tolerance to opioids.

Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid drug approved
by the Food and Drug Administration for use as
an analgesic (pain relief) and anesthetic. It is
approximately 100 times more potent than morphine
and 50 times more potent than heroin as an
analgesic.

What is the effect on the body?
Fentanyl, similar to other commonly used opioid
analgesics (e.g., morphine), produces effects
such as relaxation, euphoria, pain relief, sedation,
confusion, drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting,
urinary retention, pupillary constriction, and
respiratory depression.

What are the overdose effects?
Overdose may result in stupor, changes in pupillary
size, cold and clammy skin, cyanosis, coma, and
respiratory failure leading to death. The presence
of triad of symptoms such as coma, pinpoint pupils,
and respiratory depression are strongly suggestive
of opioid poisoning