Beware Of Carfentanil In Florida’s Drug Supply
Drug use trends change over time, and a substantial increase in overdose deaths or criminal cases associated with one drug will attract years of media attention to that drug. In the 1970s, everyone feared heroin, and in the 1980s, it was crack cocaine. Then came methamphetamine and prescription opioid abuse. Today, in the age of fentanyl, most of the advice we received in drug education sounds like it belongs to another era, but the saying still rings true that the most dangerous drug is a drug of unknown ingredients. In the old days, that description applied to any drug powder you bought on the street; the drug education teachers used to say that powder that looked like cocaine might also contain rat poison and broken glass. Most people who buy drug powders that test positive for fentanyl did not think they were buying fentanyl. Counterfeit prescription pills also often contain fentanyl instead of or in addition to the drug they are meant to look like. Sometimes drug dealers even add fentanyl to cannabis. Of course, the danger is that fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 100 times stronger than morphine, is so powerful that a tiny amount you don’t ever know is there can kill. Fentanyl is not even the most dangerous drug out there. According to a recent report on the Tampa 28 news website, Florida crime labs have seen increasing amounts of an even stronger drug, called carfentanil. If you are facing charges for powerful opioids that you did not know were in the pills or cannabis that police confiscated from your property, contact a Tampa drug crime lawyer.
An Opioid Strong Enough to Immobilize an Elephant
Outside the medical profession, you only hear about fentanyl and carfentanil in the context that they are terrifyingly strong drugs, so strong that a pocket-sized bag of powder could contain hundreds of lethal doses. In this context, it is hard to imagine their use in medicine, but fentanyl is the active ingredient in transdermal patches used for pain management, and anesthesiologists administer tiny doses of fentanyl during surgery while monitoring patients’ breathing and heart rate. Carfentanil is so powerful, though, that it can never be beneficial to humans, and it has never been legally approved for medical use. Instead, it is a veterinary tranquilizer, used to anesthetize megafauna such as elephants and rhinoceroses.
Carfentanil Is Not the Worst-Case Scenario
If there is any good news about carfentanil, it is that it is an opioid, which means that naloxone can reverse its effects. A high enough dose of naloxone can reverse the effects of even the strongest opioids. The drugs that are an even bigger cause for concern are central nervous system depressants like xylazine, a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer also prevalent in Florida’s drug supply, because these do not respond to naloxone.
Contact Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Bryant Scriven
A criminal defense lawyer can help you get justice if you are facing criminal charges for possession of synthetic opioids. Contact Scriven Law in Tampa, Florida to schedule a consultation.
Source:
tampabay28.com/news/state/its-scary-deas-florida-drug-lab-sounds-alarm-as-fentanyl-and-carfentanil-make-frightening-comebacks
