#WTFentanyl Part One: Fentanyl Panic
Hello! Welcome to Overdosed a weekly newsletter on drug policy and people who use drugs by me, Diane Roznowski.
One of the main reasons I wanted to start this newsletter was fentanyl. More specifically, fentanyl panic and misinformation about fentanyl.
When my sister Emily died, she had three drugs in her system: nicotine, caffeine, and fentanyl.
I had unfortunately heard about fentanyl and how it was killing tons of drug users who didn’t know they were getting it instead of heroin. Emily even told me that when people who use drugs heard about a friend overdosing and dying they often sought out that person’s dealer thinking that they had a supply of drugs that would get them a better high.
Since my sister’s death, I’ve learned a lot about fentanyl, but I’ve also seen so many problematic articles on it. Reporters are quick to point out that fentanyl is a superpotent opioid (it’s 80-100 times more powerful than morphine) but they don’t talk about the fact that overdoses caused by fentanyl can be reversed by naloxone or that there are fentanyl test strips drug users can use to make an informed decision about whether or not to use their drugs.
Fentanyl killed my sister but fentanyl itself doesn’t scare me as much as fentanyl misinformation and panic does.
Fentanyl misinformation and panic will only kill more people like my sister.
A while ago, I found Ryan Marino’s #WTFentanyl. This hashtag highlights and combats the harms caused by the misinformation surrounding fentanyl. I’m sure you’ve seen stories about police officers and other first responders suffering “overdoses” and administering naloxone to themselves, “saving their own life.” But when you look at their symptoms, they aren’t symptoms of an overdose at all. They look a lot more like a panic attack.
I don’t think police officers and first responders are purposefully making up these “overdoses.” I think they are genuinely scared that these drugs could hurt them because of what they are seeing about it, mainly in the news. When you consistently see photos of the differences in lethal doses of heroin, fentanyl, and carfentanil, it’s hard not to be worried about what these drugs would do to you especially when you’re not getting the right information about them.
When all you see is how little of the pure forms of these drugs can kill someone, you’re not going to understand that it can’t kill you by just touching your skin or being in your presence. You very well may have a panic attack if you think you’ve been exposed or you may not provide life-saving care to someone experiencing an overdose because you are worried you could be harmed.
This real harm is caused by the misinformation and panic surrounding fentanyl. It’s not helping anyone but it is hurting people who use drugs.
Over the next two parts of this series, we’ll talk about legal and illicit fentanyl and how both have been and are drastically changing the opioid epidemic as we know it.
Further Reading
The Appeal - Media Frame: Fentanyl Panic is Worsening the Overdose Crisis
CATO - Fentanyl as a WMD? The War on Opioids Reaches a New Level of Misinformation
Harm Reduction Coalition - Myths and misinformation about law enforcement and fentanyl exposure: Perpetuating Stigma, Causing Harm
STAT - Why fentanyl is deadlier than heroin, in a single photo
Current Reading
After appearing on NBC’s Songland, Macklemore released a new song with Iro (the songwriter). “Shadow” is another song he has about his challenges with substance use and recovery. Another one of my favorites by him is “Drug Dealer.”
Somerville Mayor Plans To Open A Supervised Consumption Site Next Year
Doctors Can Change Opioid Prescribing Habits, But Progress Comes In Small Doses
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Until next time,
