The Deadliest Drug on The Market

Meet Fentanyl, the narcotic originally used in epidurals and painkillers for cancer patients. It is one-hundred times stronger than morphine and heroin. Unfortunately, the use of this synthetic painkillers has now turned sideways as it’s made its way into the illegal drug scene.

Because the ingredients of Fentanyl are openly published by scientists who invented it, it is very easy for people called “rogue chemists” to make their own knockoff version of the drug. A fatal dose of Fentanyl is about one to two milligrams. The amount of fentanyl shown in the image below above kill a grown adult. As one could imagine, the slightest miscalculation could very likely end a life. 

Fentanyl is responsible for nearly two-thirds of all opioid deaths. Tom Petty, Prince, and Mac Miller all had traces of Fentanyl in their systems when they died. The worst part of it all is that most of these people who overdosed on Fentanyl, didn’t even know they were taking it. The reason behind this being that Fentanyl by itself is very rarely sold on its own. In fact, it’s usually mixed in with other drugs, such as heroin. Fentanyl based heroin is 20 times more profitable than regular heroin, because the addictive tendencies keep customers coming back for more. It has even been found in ecstasy pills.

In short, Mexican drug cartels are partially responsible for Fentanyl laced drugs coming in to the United States, but the main culprit is China. Turns out, Fentanyl from China is as easy to produce as it is to purchase. A journalist went undercover on the dark web and requested a vile of Fentanyl from China, only to get an email reply in a matter of minutes. Regular people can simply buy Fentanyl on the dark web from China, and have it shipped to them through the U.S Postal Service. The amount of Fentanyl needed to get high is so little, it can easily be sent through an envelope with little suspicion. 

These transactions work in ways that are extremely difficult to control or prevent, which is one of the reasons this has become such an epidemic, Despite fairly limited media coverage, it is suspected that upward of 19,413 people have been killed by Fentynal-related overdoses this year. The sheer fact that this issue isn’t well known is quite astounding, because this drug is deadlier than anything the U.S has ever seen. And without public knowledge, we won’t be prepared for when it escalates further.

By Eileigh Munro