Question

More than 1200 people died of accidental overdose for Fentanyl use in Philadelphia in 2017, could bringing users off the street reduce that?

Answer 1

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is several times stronger than morphine. The opioid crisis in the US kills almost 120 people in a day. Among other substances is fentanyl which is prescribed to cope with severe pain and pain related to advanced cancer. There have been several fentanyl-related deaths in recent history because people were getting addicted to opioids in a way without even knowing about it. In 2017, More than 1200 people died in Philly because of Fentanyl substance abuse.

The main reason for overdose is illegally prepared Fentanyl which is being mixed with heroin or cocaine without the person even knowing about it. Mixing it with other drugs increased its euphoric effects.

The only way Fentanyl overdose can be curbed is to get it off the streets. It means stopping all illegal productions of the medicine and implementing strict laws which make sure only those who really need the medicine, get it. National Forensic Laboratory Information System reported more than 4500 confiscations and raid related to illegal Fentanyl. The increasing number of confiscations suggests that the sharp rise in fentanyl-related deaths may be due to increased availability of illegally made, non-pharmaceutical fentanyl, and not prescribed fentanyl. So strict laws need to be made by the government and need to be implemented by Anti Drug agencies in order to lower the death count due to substance overdose.