In this BHN Live episode, news producer, Julia Dudley Najieb, reiterates the nationwide fentanyl crisis by sharing perspectives from a medical expert, renowned author, drug dealer, drug addict and straight facts from the DEA's platform.

The drug overdose news headlines, the highway billboards, and the local law enforcement warnings regarding the opioid epidemic may not be alarming enough to alert most Americans that they could be next -- accidentally.

What may be alarming to some people is that most of these accidental overdose deaths are caused by a key deadly drug that has been synthesized in the streets and disguised under the predominant, fake pills sold to the unknown drug user, who thinks he/she/they is buying the fake prescription medication.

According to the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), federal organization in charge of enforcing the controlled substances laws of the United States, fentanyl is a highly addictive man-made, synthetic opioid that is 50 times stronger than heroin and 80-100 times stronger than morphine. Just two milligrams of fentanyl, small enough to fit on the tip of a pencil, is considered a potentially deadly dose.



Pharmaceutical fentanyl was developed for pain management treatment of cancer patients, applied in a patch on the skin. Because of its powerful opioid properties, fentanyl is also diverted for abuse.

Fentanyl is added to heroin to increase its potency, or be disguised as highly potent heroin.