Facts about Fentanyl

From the National Institute on Drug Abuse

• Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid analgesic that is similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent. In its prescription form it is prescribed for pain, but fentanyl is also made illegally and distributed as a street drug.

• Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are the most common drugs involved in overdose deaths.

• Illegal fentanyl is sold in the following forms: as a powder, dropped on blotter paper like small candies, in eye droppers or nasal sprays, or made into pills that look like real prescription opioids.

• Illegal fentanyl is being mixed with other drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and MDMA. This is especially dangerous because people are often unaware that fentanyl has been added.

Read more about fentanyl use, fentanyl overdose and how it affects the brain here.

Photo courtesy of the DEA.