What Is Fentanyl and Why Should It Be Banned From the Streets?
America is getting more and more addicted to opioids. By looking at the recent trends, the rate at which the people of this country are dying because of this type of drug is frightening. By definition, opioids include drugs that come from the opium poppy, a flowering plant that is produced on a large scale. Some of the common examples are heroin and morphine, as per FOX 13.
But while both heroin and morphine are as old as the illegal drug trade itself, there's a new wave of more dangerous synthetic substitutes, including that a dangerously powerful variety called fentanyl. What is it and why is there an immediate need to get rid of it in America's streets?
Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is disturbing -- more than 5,000 people in theU.S. alone died of opioid-related overdoses back in 2014, per CNN report. Equally as disturbing is the fact that majority of these people were found to have fentanyl in their system. Meanwhile, the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) recently issued a national alert, recognizing that the increase in the number of overdoses to fentanyl are so alarming considering that the cases of seizures back in '13 were at 942; a year later, it reached to more than 3,000.
According to FOX 13, The drug is being mass produced because it is used by doctors as an effective and most powerful opioid known today. But the problem is that it also has very addictive effects, leading to its trade popularity out in the streets. The DEA revealed that majority of it that enters the country illegally come from either China or Mexico.
However, the most disturbing fact is that majority of those who purchase it on the street don't have a single clue what fentanyl is and what it can do to harm the one using it. It is so dangerous that anyone who happens to make contact with it even without ingestion could be killed through overdose or seizures. When a substantial amount of it is absorbed through the skin or if someone inhales it, it can lead to things like dizziness, sudden slow breathing, and even death.
