10 Reasons Fentanyl is Deadly

Clinically reviewed by Matt Hawk BS, CADC-II, ICADC

For the last seven years, fentanyl has been the top drug taking American lives. This deadly trend developed slowly starting in 2014, with an infusion of illicitly manufactured fentanyl sourced from Asia. By August 2023, fentanyl was killing nearly 80,000 Americans every year.

Gradually, fentanyl largely replaced prescription opioids and heroin on the illicit market. At first, drug users were unaware of the shift to this cheap, synthetic opioid. As time went on, some drug users preferred fentanyl and asked for it. Others did their best to avoid it and failed. Opioid users had to develop special habits to protect their lives when using drugs, such as never using drugs alone in case of an overdose.

Despite their best efforts to adapt to this potent drug, more than 60,000 people die from fentanyl overdoses every year. Those using drugs have been forced to learn what makes fentanyl so dangerous and deadly to protect their lives.

Here are the ten reasons that fentanyl is such a deadly drug.

1. Fentanyl is cheap. It’s fully synthetic, so no plant material is needed for its manufacture. It is so potent that a pound of it goes a very long way. This makes it very, very popular with drug traffickers and dealers, so there is plenty of it on the illicit market.
   
   
2. Drug traffickers love to press fentanyl into counterfeit pills and sell them to unsuspecting customers. In 2024, 52 million of these pills were seized by law enforcement. Some people think it’s safer to abuse pharmaceutical products than a drug like heroin. They buy pills from a dealer and unintentionally get a fatal dose of fentanyl.
   
   
3. Like heroin, fentanyl slows breathing. When breathing slows enough, the drug user dies. Even if they survive, they may suffer brain damage due to oxygen deprivation.
4. Fentanyl is incredibly powerful. It is 100 times more powerful than morphine and as much as 50 times stronger than heroin.
   
   
5. There are many different types of fentanyl on the illicit market. These other formulas are called fentanyl analogs. These analogs include a-methylfentanyl, which is twice as strong as fentanyl, and carfentanil, which is 10,000 times stronger than morphine. With such potent drugs on the market, it can be impossible to avoid a fatal overdose.
   
   
6. Drug dealers often add fentanyl to the other drugs they sell. It has been found in cocaine and methamphetamine, as well as heroin.
   
   
7. Fentanyl is being concealed in vape pens or other vaping devices. Reusable vaping devices are refilled by drug dealers or drug users themselves so that they now contain fentanyl.
   
   
8. A person overdosing on fentanyl is hard to save with naloxone, the opioid antidote. While one dose of this antidote may save a person from overdosing on heroin, it can take two, three, or more to save a fentanyl user.
   
   
9. It is not easy to tell if a batch of drugs contains fentanyl. Fentanyl test kits have been available for the last few years. But they may not detect every type of fentanyl and may not work when fentanyl has been added to a large quantity of another drug like methamphetamine or MDMA.
   
   
10. An overdose isn’t the only way fentanyl can kill you. Fatal complications of non-fatal fentanyl overdoses include damage to the heart or cardiac arrest and a type of pneumonia.

Escaping the Dangerous Trap of Fentanyl Addiction

Because fentanyl is so potent, it can quickly addict the user. If someone you care about is addicted to fentanyl, there is no time to waste. It is essential to help that person enter an effective drug rehab program at the first moment possible. Because of its incredible deadliness, the next time the addicted person uses this drug, it could be their last. The greatest gift you could give this person is to help them see that the way out is drug rehab.

About the Narconon Drug Rehab Program

Many families have experienced the revolving door of drug addiction treatment, where their loved one completes one program and then soon returns to rehab. For nearly 60 years, the innovative Narconon program has enabled tens of thousands of people around the world to achieve lasting recovery from addiction. The Narconon program has long been at the forefront of holistic drug rehab.

The Steps of the Narconon Rehab Program

The Narconon program not only addresses the debilitating effects of drug abuse on the mind and body but also resolves why a person turned to drugs in the first place. This precise regimen utilizes vitamins, minerals, and time in a low-heat sauna to rid the body of accumulated drug residues and toxins. Next, special exercises help a person emerge from a traumatic past into a more promising present. Finally, each person also receives life skills training so they can make sober decisions and enjoy productive lives.

Not a 28-Day or Twelve Step Program

At a Narconon drug rehab, no one will be told that they have an incurable brain disease, and they will not be given substitute medications. Learn why this drug-free program could be the last program your loved one ever needs.

Sources:

1. “Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024. CDC
2. “Fentanyl facts.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024. CDC
3. “a-Methylfentanyl.” Science Direct, 2014. Science Direct
4. “Fentanyl used in vape pens.” Drug Enforcement Administration, 2019. DEA
5. “High-dose naloxone formulations are not as essential as we thought.” Harm Reduction Journal, 2024. Harm Reduction Journal
6. “Fentanyl Addiction Information & Resources.” NarcononUS.org, undated. Narconon.org
7. “Fentanyl test strips: a harm reduction strategy.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024. CDC
8. “Incidence of Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Adults Following Drug Overdose.” National Library of Medicine, 2013. NLM
9. “Pulmonary Complications of Opioid Overdose Treated With Naloxone.” Annals of Emergency Medicine, 2020. Annals