Fentanyl 💉💊

Fentanyl is a narcotic used to treat severe pain, usually the type of pain experienced by cancer patients.  It has a high risk for dependency and addiction, which is why it’s a controlled substance.

The thing about about statistics is that they take time to compile so whatever the results are they’re always after the fact.

I remember when I was in my 20’s (2000 and beyond) the popular pain medications that were being abused were percocet, oxycontin, and vicodin.  These drugs were perscriptions in the opioid family.

Seventeen years later there was a change as fentanyl was making headlines.  Fentanyl, just like percocet, vicodin, and oxycontin, is an opioid, and all perscribed opioids despite what anyone says are synthetic forms of heroin.

In 2017 there were 72,000 drug overdose deaths reported and fentanyl was a big reason for the increase.  72,000 drug related overdose deaths was more than HIV, car crashes, and gun deaths during that year.

It’s unbelievable to see how much synthetic opioids are driving up death rates.  Overdose deaths resulting from heroin and cocaine and other opioids were near 15,000 to 16,000.  Fentanyl brought that number total number up around 29,000.

The president declared the opioid crisis a national public emergency during 2017.  It’s always good to know that people are aware, and for those who really care enough to help, a $1 billion grant program was setup to help combat the problem.  Let’s hope to see a noticeable difference in figures when this year comes to an end.