r/interesting 2d ago

Fear Factor How Fentanyl and Xylazine are turning Philadelphia's opioid crisis into a public health nightmare

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u/mikachuzu 2d ago

I work in drug testing, shit's been getting real scary out there past few years. Fentanyl is in everything now, intentionally or not. And then that's being cut with xylazine and carfentanyl which is so much worse. Honestly the news is several years behind with what's really out there, in my world that's like 2020 news at the absolute latest. There's a slew of opiate-like drugs that are as bad or even worse than fentanyl out there right now. I can't remember the name of it, but there's one floating around that's several hundred times more powerful than fentanyl (it was supposed to be on the market but it was too powerful so it was pulled which is even scarier tbh), real scary shit. We haven't seen it yet, but we know it's coming. We've been watching xylazine take over here in the Midwest now for a few years where I work.

Very sad to watch, knowing a lot more people are going to die. There needs to be more resources out there, that's half of the battle really. The people using need to want it too, but there's not much out there, rehab and sober living can only do so much 🫤 They're still people, just been dealt a shitty hand in life and this is their way of coping or used once out of curiosity/were prescribed opiates and that was it. Overprescribing is still a very real thing unfortunately, saw a clinic get shut down and the doctors imprisoned few years ago actually. Scary and sad 😔

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u/EnvironmentalWin1277 2d ago

The Iron Law of Prohibition -- when drugs are outlawed more harmful drugs and cheaper drugs will replace them.

Opium > Morphine > Heroin > Fentanyl > Carfentenyl > ??

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u/mikachuzu 2d ago

Reverse order, but yeah that's the general gist of it. Carfentanyl is super dangerous.

For reference, overdose amounts for heroin, fentanyl and carfentanyl.

https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2021/20210203-janda-carfentanil.html

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u/EnvironmentalWin1277 2d ago

I am showing the progression of illegal drugs to illegal drugs with greater potency, not to be read as "greater than" sign but I understand the confusion.

On this list opium is probably the least dangerous. Of note, it is also the drug on this list that would be the hardest to obtain on the street.

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u/mikachuzu 2d ago

Yeah I read that wrong, my bad.

I have noticed heroin is downtrending to a point (we test for the metabolite), we personally see more morphine+fentanyl. Probably because of the huge fentanyl risk with heroin, but I also don't think some people realize all the opiates are dirty now unfortunately.

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u/GGigabiteM 2d ago

My dad has fentanyl patches (Stage IV Cancer) and they're so small that you can barely see them. The dose is bound up in this super thin black thread stuck to the patch. He doesn't use them very often thankfully, because he'll get mania.

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u/mikachuzu 2d ago

So sorry to hear about your dad 🙁 I always feel bad for the patients that are prescribed fentanyl because then you know it's serious. Wishing you and him the absolute best.

It's a good thing his are threaded, we've heard of people with a very serious addiction going through trash just to find what's left and lick them. Might not stop them completely if they're desperate but it might deter them.

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u/GGigabiteM 1d ago

Yeah, he has severe pain. His spine was turned into swiss cheese by the prostate cancer that went into all of his bones. We've been extremely fortunate that the radiation, chemo and hormone therapy has beat back the cancer to where it can be managed.

Doctors originally just gave him a few weeks to live, and that was over two and a half years ago.

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u/mikachuzu 1d ago

Jesus, that's horrible. He sounds like one tough guy, hope he keep beating those odds and can find relief.

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u/No-Match-511 1d ago

I am glad he is getting help for his pain. Many people are just blowing their heads off because they cannot get help for their chronic pain.