Narcan-Resistant Fentanyl Now Found in Alabama
It was only a little over a year ago when Narcan-resistant fentanyl was reported to have been found in Pennsylvania. The Pittsburgh area went wild, with no one actually believing that such a thing existed. As if carfentanil wasn’t enough, a substance called “acryl fentanyl” showed up from the labs in China and hit city streets. Over the last year, more and more artificially created, synthetic analogues of fentanyl made their way in to the United States drug supply and have already caused major overdose events. The fact of the matter is, there really isn’t a lot of heroin around anymore. Most addicts who proclaim themselves to be heroin addicts are, in actuality, fentanyl addicts. As the opioid problem has pushed forward and evolved, heroin itself has become less of a problem, with fentanyl having the main spotlight. Unfortunately, instead of getting better, the drug problem has worsened with other things to fear than just tainted dope.
Since acryl fentanyl is a man-made analogue of fentanyl, its effects are mostly unknown because it hasn’t been around long enough to be extensively researched and studied. The one thing that we do know about it is that the chemical is so strong, its effects seem resistant to Narcan. That’s not to say that Narcan doesn’t work for an acryl fentanyl overdose, it just might take a lot more Narcan than normal to reverse the drug’s effects. That was a big misconception when acryl fentanyl was found in Pennsylvania and I wanted to take a moment to clear that up. Some people thought that by being Narcan-resistant meant that Narcan doesn’t work for an acryl fentanyl overdose, which isn’t necessarily true. The larger problem we’re faced with is that acryl fentanyl hasn’t made headlines since it was originally reported in May of 2017 until it recently showed up in Shelby County, Alabama. Local law enforcement and drug task forces are fully aware of the situation and are doing what they can to handle the problem, I just find it frightening that the drug showed up again after causing such a huge problem in the Northeast. What’s going to be needed is access to a lot more Narcan to help reverse whatever overdoses they can, and even through all the efforts that will be made, there will more than likely be the unnecessary loss of life.
I say it over and over and I’m probably going to keep saying it, but using drugs in our modern society, in my opinion, is terrifying. There are more types of drugs than ever before than can absolutely kill you or get you high within an inch of your life. Anyone out there who’s hopelessly addicted needs to find help fast before irreversible damage is done. Help is out there, and recovery is possible. There is a way out and I see people save their own lives every day. Don’t become part of the drug crisis’ death toll. Become a statistic of sobriety.
