Super-strength fentanyl pills ‘are flooding streets & coming off them is impossible it’s like your skin is ripping off’
THE explosion of super-strength fentanyl flooding the streets in pill form has left drug abuse experts terrified of the future.
A recent federally funded study on fentanyl – now the drug of choice for chronic abusers who’ve moved on from heroin to a stronger, cheaper substitute – revealed 49% of the substance intercepted by law enforcement in 2023 came in easy-to-take pills.
GettySuperstrength fentanyl is a cheaper and stronger alternative to heroin and is now being sold in easy-to-take pills[/caption]
Nicholas MathewsSubstance abuse expert Nick Mathews told The U.S. Sun about his fears for those using the fentanyl pills that have begun to flood the market[/caption]
GettyFentanyl pills are used by all ages and are easier to overdose on[/caption]
That is a staggering increase from just 10% in 2017 – and substance abuse expert Nicholas Mathews has laid bare his fears to The U.S Sun in a harrowing interview about the nightmare situations he’s seeing unfold daily.
Mathews, himself a recovering heroin addict who’s been clean for a decade and now runs his own Stillwater Behavioral Health recovery center in Los Angeles, has been stunned by the brutal withdrawal physical and psychological effects of the opioid.
It’s like nothing he’s ever seen before, with overdoses happening with frightening regularity.
FATAL DOSES
The Fentanyl pills resemble common prescription medicines like Xanax or Adderall and carry an extra fear of users mistakenly taking huge doses of the drug which could prove fatal.
“Going cold turkey on these drugs is almost impossible,” he told The US Sun.
“It feels like your skin is ripping off of your body. The levels of discomfort, combined with the phenomenon of craving is something I don’t think the average human being can understand.
“The psychological component has become dramatically more complicated than it used to be.”
“Fentanyl is so remarkably powerful that whether you have orally ingested it, smoke, snort or inject, it, if it’s a lethal dose, overdose happens so rapidly that it’s really hard to determine what the effect is,” he added.
“It’s easier to overdose in pill form.”
Mathews, who recently lost a close friend to an opioid overdose, says the crisis is affecting everyone from college students, single mothers and middle-aged professionals.
He says the problem has accelerated out of control since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the ease of being able to obtain the drugs the key, and the strength of what they are purchasing creating a very dangerous situation for millions of users.
Cartels and drug gangs can produce vast amounts of pills laced with everything from cocaine to methamphetamine and deliver them to the masses far more efficiently – and cheaper – than the process of producing heroin from their natural source.
Also, with the narcotics coming in an easy-to-take pill form, Mathews says users are “more comfortable” taking them than using the powdered version which used to be the norm.
TERRIFYING EFFECTS
The pills that are flooding the streets are also far stronger than heroin, which is something that draws the addicts in.
“What is terrifying to me is that they’re trying to make this hyper-lethal drug more digestible to the community. That’s a very, very scary thing,” said Mathews.
“I think one of the most important things to remember is that addicts and alcoholics, addicts in particular, obviously, as we’re talking about opiates, always gravitate towards the most powerful thing. Nobody starts doing heroin. Maybe they start with Vicodin and then you naturally progress as your body builds a tolerance.
“The market of users and abusers is always going to gravitate and trend to the most powerful version of that narcotic.”
WHAT IS FENTANYL?
Fentanyl is similar to morphine and is a highly addictive and powerful synthetic opioid.
People ordinarily inject, snort or use a patch to use the drug but now with Fentanyl pills flooding the market, that is fast becoming the popular choice.
The pills, however, are super-strength meaning the chances of overdosing is very high and can prove lethal.
Experts, like Nick Mathews who runs his own treatment center in California, say the withdrawal process is brutal and causes severe physical and mental problems.
Home testing kits are available so users can become aware of the strength of the pills in their possession.
Mathews admits this new wave of super-strength, cheaper narcotics has taken the place of heroin as the most worrying and dangerous type of addiction for experts to try and eradicate.
“It’s remarkably rare to find somebody anymore who is a heroin user and abuser. I don’t get them anymore,” he continued.
“I think 10 years ago, being an IV heroin addict was the scariest thing that you could be. Nowadays, if I get a client that is an IV heroin addict, I’m not nearly as concerned for their safety as I used to be.”
Mathews says there’s “no consistency” when it comes to the strength of the pills and it’s “scary” to think the dealers, who used to cut the products themselves, now have no idea what they’re selling.
“It’s a dice roll with your life,” he lamented.
U.S. law enforcement reported 23,529 seizures of illicit fentanyl in 2023. That’s around 116 million individual pills, with the largest amount of seizures taking place in Florida, Arizona, and California.
If you’re an addict, I’m concerned about your safety.
Nick Mathewssubstance abuse expert, Stillwater Behavioral Health
Mathews laments the current situation in his native Portland, where an attempt to eradicate drug use by allowing addicts to inject in safe places has failed, making the streets more dangerous as a result. San Francisco has also gone down that route, with similar results.
Authorities in Oregon have now backtracked on the plan and have recently recriminalized drugs, with an admission the experiment had failed.
“It breaks my heart when I go back home,” Mathews admitted.
Joseph Palamar, the lead study author says there is a need to “educate people” about the “high risk of being exposed to fentanyl pills.”
Mathews, meanwhile, urges anyone struggling or affected by addiction, to seek help.
Fentanyl testing strips are readily available to buy at stores like CVS as well as online, while specialist centers like Stillwater run by Mathews are on hand to deal with any chronic issues.
“My concern lies with every human being in this country, man, woman, and child,” concluded Mathews. “If you’re an addict, I’m concerned for your safety. If you’re near an addict, I’m concerned for your safety. And if you love an addict, I’m concerned for your safety.”
GettyCities like Portland and San Francisco have severe fentanyl problems on the streets[/caption]
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