Another Deadly Killer...

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is approximately 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. It is inexpensive, widely available, and highly addictive. Drug traffickers are increasingly mixing fentanyl with other illicit drugs—in powder and pill form—to drive addiction and create repeat customers. Many people who are overdosing and dying don’t even know that they are taking fentanyl. 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that in the United States, nearly 107,000 people died as the result of a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending November 2021. Sixty-six percent of overdose deaths involved synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
Pharmaceutical fentanyl was developed for pain management treatment of cancer patients, applied in a patch on the skin. Because of its powerful opioid properties, Fentanyl is also diverted for abuse. Fentanyl is added to heroin to increase its potency, or be disguised as highly potent heroin. Many users believe that they are purchasing heroin and actually don’t know that they are purchasing fentanyl – which often results in overdose deaths. Clandestinely-produced fentanyl is primarily manufactured in Mexico.

The DEA has created a special exhibit for its museum, The Faces of Fentanyl, to commemorate the lives lost from fentanyl poisoning.  If you would like to submit a photo of a loved one lost to fentanyl, please submit their name and photo to fentanylawareness@dea.gov , or post a photo and their name to social media using the hashtag #NationalFentanylAwarenessDay.
For more information on the dangers of fentanyl, visit www.DEA.gov/fentanylawareness.

​https://www.dea.gov/factsheets/fentanyl
​https://admin.dea.gov/press-releases/2022/05/09/dea-recognizes-first-ever-national-fentanyl-awareness-day