Fentanyl causes most overdose deaths in Europe

Fentanyl is approximately 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine and roughly 40 to 50 times more potent than pharmaceutical grade (100% pure) heroin.

In the mid-1990s, fentanyl was first introduced for widespread palliative use with the clinical introduction of the Duragesic patch, followed in the next decade by the introduction of the first quick-acting prescription formulations of fentanyl for personal use, the Actiq lollipop and Fentora buccal as well as through the delivery method of estradiol Mylan transdermal patches. As of 2012 fentanyl was the most widely used synthetic opioid in clinical practice.

Fentanyl is used recreationally, whereby death is common. Deaths have resulted from both recreational and improper medical use.

To date, more than 12 different analogues of fentanyl have been produced clandestinely and identified in the U.S. drug traffic.

Fentanyl analogues may be hundreds of times more potent than street heroin, and tend to produce significantly more respiratory depression, making it somewhat more dangerous than heroin to users. Fentanyl is used orally, smoked, snorted, or injected. Fentanyl is sometimes sold as heroin, often leading to overdoses. Many fentanyl overdoses are initially classified as heroin overdoses. In Estonia, due to its high rate of recreational use, fentanyl causes more deaths nationwide than traffic accidents.

In 2006, illegally manufactured, non-pharmaceutical fentanyl often mixed with cocaine or heroin caused an outbreak of overdose deaths in the United States and Canada, heavily concentrated in the cities of Dayton (Ohio), Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia,[54] as well as Baltimore, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Camden (New Jersey).[55] Little Rock, Vancouver, Dallas[56] were also affected. The mixture of fentanyl and heroin is known as "magic" or "the bomb", among other names, on the street.

In June 2013, the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a health advisory[65] to emergency departments alerting to 14 overdose deaths among intravenous drug users in Rhode Island associated with acetylfentanyl, a synthetic opioid analog of fentanyl that has never been licensed for medical use.

Beginning in 2015, Canada has seen a widespread issue of fentanyl overdoses country-wide. Authorities suspect that the drug is being imported from Asia to the West Coast.
Due to the rising deaths across the country, Health Canada is putting a rush on a review of the prescription-only status of Naloxone in an effort to combat overdoses of the drug.

Russian spetsnaz security forces used a fentanyl-based gas to incapacitate people rapidly in the Moscow theater hostage crisis. The siege was ended, but about 130 of the 850 hostages died due to the use of the gas.
[link to en.wikipedia.org (secure)]

"Investigators said the victims used powder cocaine mixed with the narcotic Fentanyl within hours of each other in Bear Creek and Siler City in central North Carolina, the Chatham County Sheriff Department said in a statement."

[link to news.yahoo.com]

one of my overdoses was from fentanyl... i chewed a 100mcg/h patch.. it was a normal.ish.. dose, i remember getting out of the car of the person i "scored" with.. he told me, "holy shit you look fucked up"


i apparently got into a vehicle a half hour later with another friend, blacked out in the vehicle, was dragged inside of another friends house... who was afraid to call 911, ended up laying on the ground for 20 hours, was later found by another friend and my father, after 4 days in the hospital i was back...

mental precision and ability was noticeably effected....

true story.

when they say fentanyl is 50x more potent then heroin, that's kind of... misleading..

for instance, the 100mcg/h patch i chewed was really about on par with 500-600mg of texas "black sand" heroin...

which is said to be 80-90 percent pure...

i also od'd from texas heroin once.. .2/g of it... or 200mg.... it was a MUCH HARDER overdose.. as in, it was instant... i had time to clean out my syringe after the shot (put water from the tap into syringe, squirt it out.. and then i woke up with paramedics around me..

Yeah, you don't play with that stuff.

I was given fentanyl IV when I was being prepped for surgery and still awake. Damn. Instantly this huge wave of warmth and pleasure washed over me and suddenly I had absolutely no worries.