Fentanyl, a particularly deadly opiate narcotic, can be linked to several deaths in Milwaukee and Dane County this year, and the frequency of abuse is intensifying as heroin becomes more popular.
Fentanyl is an extremely powerful version of synthetic heroin, which is medically prescribed in cases of intense, long-term pain. Typically, it is only found in hospitals, nursing homes or rehabilitation facilities, but as heroin use has become more widespread, fentanyl abuse has increased.
“You get people who are addicted to painkillers, and some of them will use fentanyl as a painkiller much like others would use other opiates,”Madison Police Department spokesperson Joel DeSpain said.
In a few cases, pharmacies have been broken into and fentanyl patches stolen, DeSpain said. Although abuse of fentanyl is not as common as heroin, the drug is extremely dangerous, Lieutenant Jason Freedman of the Dane County Narcotics Task Force said.
Freedman said many people who use fentanyl for non-prescribed purposes are unaware of how deadly the drug really is.
“Fentanyl is very powerful and very easy to overdose on,” Freedman said. “It’s even more potent than heroin.”
Fentanyl is a synthetic opiate analgesic similar to morphine, but more potent, according to the National Institutes of Health. The drug is typically used to treat severe pain for those recovering from surgery in a hospital setting, and it’s sometimes prescribed to those with chronic pain who are physically tolerant to opiates, according to the NIH.
Freedman said that fentanyl is controlled even more than other prescription opiates and is difficult to find outside of a hospital setting. The NIH website says fentanyl is sometimes mixed with heroin or cocaine, amplifying these drugs’ potential dangers.
“We come across it infrequently,” Freedman said. “Devices, patches and other things that contain fentanyl are not as available on the open market as prescription opiates or heroin.”
Despite this, fentanyl has become increasingly prevalent in Dane County, Freedman said. Cases involving fentanyl are more common in cities like Madison and Milwaukee, likely because there are so many facilities in the large cities that have the drug, Freedman said. He said fentanyl is typically abused less in more rural counties or counties with fewer healthcare facilities because there is less access.
Freedman said the abuse of all types of opiate products, including fentanyl, has increased in the last few years.
“With the heroin epidemic, all opiate-type products, whether they’re legal or illegal, prescribed or stolen, manufactured or cultivated, are increasing,” Freedman said.
According to the Wisconsin Heroin Assessment, drug deaths have hit all-time highs in recent years. Heroin, fentanyl and other opiate overdoses make up a large percentage of those deaths. The assessment found heroin’s biggest users in Wisconsin were white males between ages 21 and 25, with the drug getting to Wisconsin by way of Chicago and Minneapolis.
Madison Police Chief Mike Koval has said Madison saw 50 percent increase in heroin deaths from 2011 to 2012.
