Fentanyl Statistics

Fentanyl is an opiate that is manufactured and is much the same as morphine in many respects, except one. This drug is far more powerful and much more addictive than morphine. This medication is commonly used for the treatment of patients who are experiencing severe pain. The pain that this medication is used to treat could be chronic or it could be as a result of a surgery induced pain. Close doctor supervision is required when this medication is prescribed because it has the potential to become highly addictive.

One of the more frightening Fentanyl statistics was that over 1,000 people died between April, 2005 and March, 2007 as the result of an illegal Fentanyl operation discovered in Mexico in 2006. The deaths were reported quite gradually, as they happened, over the course of several years and the total peaked at 1,013 deaths as documented through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The effects of Fentanyl are similar to those of other well-known opioid drugs - morphine and heroin and include a feeling of euphoria, nausea, confusion, constipation, sedation, respiratory depression and drowsiness. The drug goes to work immediately after injection or absorption by affecting the brain's reward centers and increasing dopamine levels.

As if that was not alarming enough, one of the more sobering Fentanyl statistics is that the drug is between 30 to 50 times more powerful than heroin. While most often this drug is prescribed in the form of a patch, generally worn by cancer patients, it is also available in illegal versions, and those tend to come in a powder form that is mixed with heroin and sometimes cocaine. The effects of the mixture can cause immediate death during injection or overdose.

During the 1980's, Fentanyl was often mixed with heroin in a potent drug cocktail known as "China White" which cause countless deaths amongst addicts. Many users reportedly dropped dead while injecting the cocktail and were found with the needle still in their arm. Some of the street names for this drug include jackpot, TNT, Tango and Cash, China Girl, Apache, dance fever, friend, goodfella, China White and Murder 8.

In the continental United States, the National Health Statistics reported Fentanyl statistics that the unintentional drug poisoning death rate attributed to the deadly China White cocktail combination doubled between 1999 and 2005. In Chicago in or about 2006 many drug addicts were turning up in Camden, New Jersey emergency rooms. They were undergoing a severe overdose from "free" heroin that was being distributed at that time by new dealers who were trying to get more business. It was later discovered that the deadly orange and pink plastic bags contained a dangerous cocktail of Fentanyl and Heroin that was causing a rash of overdoses and in some cases, deaths. If an user is caught early enough during an accidental overdose, the effects of that overdose can be reversed and the person's life saved by the immediate injection of an "antagonist" drug such as Naloxone which reverses the effects of the drug which was injected.

This should be cause for alarm amongst people who know of loved ones who use heroin mixed with fentanyl. It could be that the person you know who is an intravenous drug user is already living in the streets, but that may not be the case yet. If your loved one or a close personal friend, or even an acquaintance is involved in this kind of drug use, it you should definitely recommend that they get the help that they need sooner rather than later. A professional drug addiction counsellor can help your loved one to return to the land of the living with carefully administered addiction treatment.

It is only a matter of time, based on Fentanyl statistics, that the person who is using this drug recreationally will overdose and die. Drug abuse is a dangerous habit. People die every day when they use illegal drugs. This is not a joke, it is not an experiment. It is a matter of life and of death and there are no winners at the end of the story. Everyone who is treated for an addiction is considered a recovering addict for the rest of their life and it is up to them and to the people in their life to ensure that they never again give in to the temptation that is drug addiction.