Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that can be mixed undetected with other illegal substances such as heroin and cocaine and is especially dangerous to people without an opioid tolerance.
Source: Metro
Bladen area went from zero fentanyl-related deaths in 2016 to 17 in 2020.
Tuesday was National Fentanyl Awareness Day, a day dedicated to amplifying “nationwide efforts to increase awareness and decrease demand for fentanyl,” states the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on their fentanyl awareness website.
The DEA describes fentanyl as “a highly addictive synthetic opioid that continues to drive the overdose epidemic.”
Americans under 50 die from fentanyl-related causes more often than any other cause of death, including cancer, homicide, suicide, and heart disease.
The highly dangerous nature of fentanyl is partially because it can be mixed with other drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin. Due to the mixing of substances, many users are unaware they are taking fentanyl.
As little as two milligrams of fentanyl is considered a potentially lethal dose, especially for those who do not have a tolerance for opioids.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released statistics demonstrating that 107,375 people in the United States died of drug overdoses in 2021 and 67 percent of those deaths involved fentanyl or other synthetic opioids.
Fentanyl and other drugs in Bladen County
Bladen County has seen a spike in overdose deaths in recent years with a huge spike in 2020.
According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), there were eight overdose deaths in Bladen County in 2019, and in 2020, there were 20.
The data released by the NCDHHS shows a clear correlation between the rise in overdose deaths in Bladen County and the spike in heroin and fentanyl usage.
In 2019, heroin and/or fentanyl contributed to five deaths; a year later, the number jumped to 17.
According to the NCDHHS, the age range that experienced the most overdose deaths between 2016 and 2020 was people between the ages of 24 and 35, despite being the smallest demographic at about 14 percent of the population. The following age ranges follow in order of most to least overdose deaths in the aforementioned time span: 45-54, 55-64, 35-44, <25, and 65+.
Despite making up almost 60 percent of Bladen’s population, white, non-Hispanic residents make up the vast majority of deaths by overdose at nearly 80 percent, followed by Black, non-Hispanic residents at approximately 18 percent.
Men make up over 60 percent of Bladen County’s drug overdose deaths.
In the state of North Carolina, the rate of medication and drug overdose deaths between 2016 and 2020 per 100,000 residents was 23.9, while a rate of 28.3 is what Bladen County saw.
Statewide, the rate of opioid overdose deaths between 2016 and 2020 was 19.3, while Bladen County saw a rate of 24.1 making Bladen County’s rates in both categories higher than the rate of the whole state.
Preventing fentanyl use
Parents and loved ones should always be vigilant about drug usage and can take the following tips to educate teenagers against the dangers of the drug:
1. Speak honestly with your child or teen about choices and consequences, as well as risky behavior.
2. Be clear and consistent about your family’s rules, boundaries, and guidelines concerning drugs.
3. Listen to what your child or teen has to say. Allow them to ask questions, provide factual information when providing answers, respect their opinions, and don’t be judgemental. Never make your teen or child feel ashamed for wanting to learn more about drugs. Information and knowledge are the best tools to encourage critical thinking and smart decision-making.
4. Encourage positive friendships and activities and encourage them to explore things that interest them. Bonus points if you take an interest in those things as well!
5. Educate them about online safety, as well as safe and healthy social media use. Try to speak from a place of understanding for the norms and culture of their generations. Telling them how things were in your day will likely cause them to tune you out. After all, it’s not your day, it’s theirs!
According to the CDC, syringe service programs “are community-based programs that can provide a range of services, including linkage to substance use disorder treatment; access to and disposal of sterile syringes and injection equipment; and vaccination, testing, and linkage to care and treatment for infectious diseases.”
Syringe service programs have been shown by nearly 30 years of research to be safe, effective, and cost-saving. They also have shown no link to an increase in illegal drug use or crime, and they play a crucial role in the reduction of the transmission of diseases such as hepatitis and HIV.
Bladen County currently has no syringe service programs, but given the spike in fentanyl and heroin-related overdose deaths in the last 3 years, perhaps it is something worth considering. Especially if it can ultimately help save lives.