Drug Overdose Prevention

To relieve pain, doctors may prescribe their patients opioids like oxycodone (OxyContin®), morphine, and even fentanyl for severe pain. When prescription opioids are distributed directly by legitimate medical professionals, their purity and strength as labeled can be trusted.

Illicit opioids include heroin and any other opioids that are produced outside of a legitimate pharmaceutical laboratory. Opioids that are made illegally are far more dangerous than prescription opioids because people using them cannot verify their purity or strength.

Synthetic opioids like fentanyl are the leading driver of the overdose epidemic. Because they are extremely powerful, just a tiny amount of fentanyl (or variations of fentanyl called analogues) can be lethal. Fentanyl is often mixed into drugs without the knowledge of the people using them.

Since fentanyl is so much stronger than other opioids, only a very small amount can be deadly. Because it is cheap and widely available, it is often added to other drugs such as heroin or even stimulants like cocaine and methamphetamine. While some people may purposefully use fentanyl for various reasons, often people who use drugs are not aware that fentanyl is in the substances they are using. 

Illicitly-made fentanyl is sold through illicit drug markets in different forms, such as powder and liquid. Fentanyl is also often found in counterfeit pressed pills made to look like oxycodone (M30s), Xanax, and other prescription pills. These counterfeit pills may contain a lethal amount of fentanyl and can be nearly impossible to distinguish from legitimate prescription pills that were prescribed by a trusted medical professional and dispensed by a licensed pharmacist. 

Fentanyl and its many variations are not “naloxone resistant.” They are opioids and will respond to naloxone if someone is overdosing. When it appears that someone who is overdosing is not responding to naloxone it may be because:

• the naloxone needs more time to take effect (wait 2-3 minutes before administering more naloxone)
• they need more than one dose of naloxone (wait 2-3 minutes between doses)
• the naloxone was administered after the person had been without oxygen for too long.

It is important to remember that the goal of administering naloxone is to get the person breathing, not to wake them up.