Fentanyl is a man-made or synthetic Opioid. It is up to 50X stronger than heroin and up to 100X stronger than morphine. To understand the danger of fentanyl, look at the tip of a pen or pencil--only a couple of grains of fentanyl can kill someone.

 

​If you've ever made chocolate chip cookies and stirred the chips into a batch you are making--you understand that the distribution of chips is not the same in every cookie. It's the same way with illegally made products with fentanyl--you will never know if what you are about to consume is a safe dose or a fatal dose. 

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Be careful using pills around babies and toddlers because anything you drop on the floor can be picked up and put in their mouths. 

Kids as young as 14 have died and appear on the Wisconsin Memorial Quilts. Don't risk dying--your death will impact your family and friends for the rest of their lives and your life will be cut short. 

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Fentanyl is mixed into every single drug on the black market, including cannabis. Only take a pill from a doctor, nurse, your parents or you take it out of the pill bottle. Do NOT trust a "friend" who gives you a pill because that friend may not know if fentanyl is present.

 

Medical or pharmaceutical fentanyl is OK to use because it's

• Produced in labs with oversight

• Packaged and labeled accurately

• Prescribed by a doctor 

• Used safely by many people experiencing chronic pain and cancer to alleviate serve, chronic and unrelenting pain

 

Illegally manufactured fentanyl typically kills almost instantly

• Produced in underground labs with no oversight

• Not packaged and labeled

• There is no safe way to know exact contents or dosage--even when you use a fentanyl test strip, it only indicates the presence--not the strength. 

• Mixed in with other illegal drugs without people realizing it

  • Found in counterfeit pills that are made to resemble prescription drugs, including prescription pain relievers, like oxycodone, oxycontin and stimulants like ADDERALL®. It's also mixed in cocaine, methamphetamine or canibus. You are at risk of dying from fentanyl poisoning if you receive pills from your friends or buy pills from any source that is not a licensed pharmacy.

 

The only way to overdose on fentanyl is through injection, snorting, ingestion, or in the case of the fentanyl patch, by mixing with another substance and applying very large amounts over extended periods. 

It is NOT possible to overdose on fentanyl through accidental skin contact or close proximity alone--unless you are already taking an Opioid medication. 

Use drug checking technologies

Fentanyl test strips are a drug checking technology. They are easy to use and available for free for pick up at many locations across Wisconsin including Vivent Health or County DHS sites and some gas stations.

Drug checking technologies should be used on all drugs not purchased from a licensed pharmacy. Unexpected and dangerous substances may still be present in a drug supply even if it comes from a trusted source.

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Naloxone

Always keep Naloxone aka Narcan on hand. The person who is with you or finds you, should call 911 right away to save your life. Whoever is administering Naloxone to you, will also need multiple doses and will need to administer it immediately so that you survive--there are no guarantees that the person administering Naloxone can save you. 

Remember even older people can overdose on legally prescribed medications so it's a good practice to keep Naloxone on hand. You can watch YouTube to understand how to administer Naloxone. 

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Good Samaritan Law in Wisconsin

The Good Samaritan Law in Wisconsin--it's one of five states that does not provide immunity to people who are on supervision with the Department of Corrections--it's far more likely that people who use substances will be on supervision than an ordinary citizen who will come upon you. 

Please be sure to contact your Representative and Senator to let them know that saving a life is much more important than arresting and sending people to jail or prison for violating their rules of supervision--it's a rule violation to be around drugs and alcohol. Under the Wisconsin Good Sam law, even an overdose survivor is given a choice to go to treatment (that is undefined but assumed inpatient treatment) or if treatment is inaccessible or unaffordable, the OD survivor must choose to go to jail for 15 days. We believe that is unacceptable and are working to revise the law. 

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Contact the Good Samaritan Coalition to find out more how you can contact your legislators to help pass a bill that actually SAVES lives.