Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is most often associated as being an anesthetic drug for surgery with up to 100 times more potency than morphine. However, in recent years the drug has taken over for heroin as the deadliest drug on our streets, causing several hundred – if not thousands – of deaths along the way.
Fentanyl Now the Most Common Drug in Fatal Overdoses
It’s a staggering statistic that in New York City alone, over a thousand people die from drug overdoses every year. According to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, almost half of all accidental fatalities from drug overdoses involve fentanyl. The main reason fentanyl is becoming more widely available on the black market is due to a consistent influx of the drug arriving from overseas destinations where it is illicitly manufactured.
Fentanyl is a Country-Wide Epidemic
Across the whole of the US, there were more than 30,000 deaths from opioid overdoses in 2015, according to research by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the same year, they reveal that the incidence of fentanyl overdoses increased by a terrifying 72.2% in less than 12 months and so this is a significant problem we’re dealing with in the US today.
The “New High” Makes it a Sought-After High
Another factor behind fentanyl’s emergence on our streets is that it’s relatively new, having only become available to the medical profession three years ago. When the drug is prescribed legally it is in the form of patches or lozenges but street drug dealers use it to blend with heroin to pad out the packets so they sell more behind the user’s back.
For First Class Drug Addiction Treatment in San Juan Capistrano, CA, Contact Casa Recovery
As specialist addiction therapists, we are alarmed at the widespread use of fentanyl on our streets today. Our main concern is that this highly potent drug has specific medical properties that are not at all suitable for recreational use. User’s may feel they are getting a higher high but the risks far outweigh any possible enjoyment gained from it.
If you’re dealing with addiction and want support that you can rely on to take you through your recovery, our Southern California addiction recovery center, Casa Recovery, has everything you’re looking for. We offer both holistic treatment and customized drug and alcohol treatment programs that have your best interests and personal needs at their core. To find out more about our highly-successful drug addiction treatment in Orange County, CA, contact us in confidence today.