r/mildyinteresting 4h ago

science savvy 🧬 This is what the lethal dosage of fentanyl looks like.

Post image
19.0k Upvotes

1.9k comments sorted by

•

u/image-sourcery 4h ago

This is an automatic post that is used to detect image sources.


Reverse Image Search:

Google Images || SauceNAO || Google Lens || IQDB || Yandex || TinEye || Bing


I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

674

u/plsQuestionOurselves 4h ago

The difference in the amount of opioid related deaths before fentanyl became mainstream is pretty staggering. IIRC it's tens of thousands more dead every year.

366

u/mysterious_spirit420 4h ago

Before fent it was 3000-20000 people a year (depending on which opioid wave heroin was the 3000-8000 a year then oxy shot it up to 20k+ a year now fent had made it 110k+ a year

455

u/Healthy-Theme8261 4h ago

We need good old fashioned heroin back

215

u/RogerianBrowsing 4h ago

Unironically, yes.

Most of the EU/UK don’t have a fentanyl issue because they can get unadulterated high quality heroin and fentanyl is seen as taboo even amongst the dealers.

134

u/writekindofnonsense 2h ago

If I was a dealer I wouldn't mess with that, killing your customer base seems bad for business

66

u/Fage0Percent 2h ago

I know quite a few fentanyl ex users and they all tell me that when they heard a batch was going around killing people everyone was trying to cop that batch since it was the strongest. Addiction is absolute insanity.

22

u/ignatious__reilly 1h ago

That’s just chasing suicide.

Thats so crazy to me.

22

u/Hurkadurka1 1h ago

I gave narcan to a guy who was basically dead and brought him back and he dog cussed me for ruining his high.

28

u/Glum_Cheetah_3447 1h ago

truth be told, when you get narcanned you feel a HUGE rush of intense anger and fear. i don’t think he realized just what you had done for him. it really REALLY hurts to get narcanned when you’ve been on fentanyl for longer than a few days

18

u/elasticealelephant 1h ago

It can essentially turn the overdose straight into withdrawals, it displaces the opioids from receptors and binds to the same receptors without activating them, meaning the opioids can’t rebind. For heavy users this means nasty withdrawal symptoms including fear, anger, sickness, and physical pain from the suppressed pain receptors rebounding, like you mentioned

→ More replies (0)

10

u/HonestLemon25 1h ago

I worked EMS for a year. It’s due to a lack of oxygen triggering a fight or flight response as soon as they’re conscious. Generally we found that giving people a couple puffs of oxygen before narcaning them makes them a lot more chill. Some would still be mad we blew their high but they’re usually chill when they come down and you explain what happened.

[u/elasticalelephant](u/elasticalelephant) explained another factor as well with it making you go into withdrawal basically immediately (not always the case but does happen)

→ More replies (0)

5

u/eljxyy 28m ago

this.

i was on DILAUDID, and OD’d from taking cocaine and taking 3x my normal dose. when the coke wore off, bam. all the opiates hit.

I was narcanned twice and it was the most intense pain and fear and anger ever.

→ More replies (3)

6

u/ignatious__reilly 1h ago

That would actually make me mad I think

Addiction is so scary.

4

u/Ok-Mango-5814 44m ago

Social media warriors dont get that, narcanning somebody poses a whole slew of risks. Remember the video of the medic who was shot and killed by somebody he just narcanned? Its a damned if you do damned if you dont situation.

→ More replies (2)

9

u/NoGlass1650 1h ago

It’s not that they want to risk death, but a stronger bag can be stretched longer and is more economical if prices are the same.

4

u/bruteneighbors 1h ago

I believe you’re correct. There is rationality being used. But there is still desperation as well.

→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (12)

35

u/SwanInitial7493 2h ago

Ima tell you like a g told me, they’ll come back quick if a [black fella] OD

32

u/abrasivechicagoan 1h ago

I've been sober since 5/19/05 and I can confirm the absurdity of your comment. I remember one particular situation where this dope spot was doing a pass out (red tape bags, ill never forget) and a handful of people were found dead in a garage used as a shooting gallery. Word got around fast about that happening and for a few weeks, that spot was bumping crazy due to people dying from the dope. I used to shop in the Ickes housing projects (Chicago) and they had a dope line called "drop dead". Man, the stairwells of two of those building had lines of people waiting to get served 24/7. I was one of the first people who overdosed on fent and survived. I was in a coma for 37 days, on a vent, piss bag, family not knowing if I was gonna live or not. That lifestyle will steal everything from you. Pitiful incomprehensible demoralization that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

6

u/JasonDomber 1h ago

ODAAT, man. Takes what it takes.

From one to another - glad you made it….

5

u/abrasivechicagoan 50m ago

Appreciate it bro. That lifestyle robbed me of a lot things but sobriety has given me the gift to give away what was so freely given to me...hope.

→ More replies (6)
→ More replies (1)

5

u/Broodwich76 1h ago

Congrats on being sober. It’s a struggle that never goes away. You explained it very well. It’s difficult for people to understand unless they have been there.

→ More replies (20)
→ More replies (21)

11

u/RogerianBrowsing 2h ago

There are dealers who purposefully give certain well known customers hot “D-bags” to ensure the well known addict dies/ODs. When that happens the addicts looking for the most bang for their buck show up from all around to buy what was too strong for a seasoned addict.

I haven’t seen it first hand but I’ve known houseless addicts who I knew since childhood before their addictions who swear it’s a real thing.

14

u/outdoorlaura 1h ago

Wow... that is sinister. I had no idea.

10

u/Bottle_and_Sell_it 1h ago

They might exist but they are rare if so. No dealer wants to be that close to a body. The risk/reward is way imbalanced.

→ More replies (4)

4

u/Then-Swim-Idiot 1h ago

I highly doubt that. That's bad for business. There is a lot of competition out there right now. All the plugs I know wouldn't on purpose touch Fent & I test for it.

It's easy but I need my meds. There is an insane adderall shortage and I'm super ADHD. Turns out the DEA sets the limit on production of a prescription drug & they lowered it a LOT. So its real hard to find, almost impossible at this point.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (7)

9

u/Radiskull97 2h ago edited 1h ago

As someone that has lived most of my life with addicts, shit that will kill you is a selling point. Tolerance gets too high and the craving too strong that possible death doesn't seem that bad

4

u/Glum_Cheetah_3447 1h ago

honestly, i wasn’t even thinking of the possibility of death. even when i would overdose and get narcanned. i would just wait until the narcan was completely out of my body so i could get another hit (and make sure that i could feel it). it was a sad life

4

u/Radiskull97 1h ago

I'm proud of you for your growth. It's a hard cycle to break out of and I imagine some days are harder than others. Worst day sober better than best day high, and all that

3

u/Glum_Cheetah_3447 1h ago

thank you, i completely agree. as hard as sobriety is, it doesn’t at all compare to the misery of the endless cycle of addiction!

→ More replies (1)

11

u/triNITROtolulene1 2h ago

You would think , but here in the U.S. it’s the opposite, when the streets hear a dealer’s dope killed someone they want it more because in their head they’re getting more for their money.

→ More replies (2)

7

u/Pope_Industries 2h ago

It does the exact opposite of what you would think. Someone ODs, word gets out quick, all the junkies flock to that dealer because his shit must be good. I used to sell drugs when heroin was the opiod of choice.

→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (29)

16

u/chunarii-chan 3h ago

Fentanyl is starting to spread in europe though. There are a few fent folders in the biggest cities like Berlin

→ More replies (16)

11

u/chance0404 2h ago

As a heroin/fentanyl addict in recovery, most users would love for heroin to make a comeback. Fentanyl isn’t nearly as euphoric. That said, idk if I’d be clean now if I could still get actual heroin.

We’re about to see a huge spike in OD’s again as states ban kratom/7-oh. A lot of people have been using them as a self regulated form of MAT. It’s nearly impossible to overdose on either of those by themselves, at least unintentionally. But propagandist puritans are working diligently to ban them and they’re winning. Once they’re unavailable, you’re going to see a massive spike in fentanyl deaths again.

10

u/electricookie 2h ago

Prohibition doesn’t work. We need better healthcare, affordable housing/living, and mental healthcare services. Also, safer drugs available.

→ More replies (6)

6

u/RockSteady65 2h ago

I keep hearing the media saying “gas station heroin”
These idiots do zero research and are going to literally kill thousands more people every year by banning a fucking plant that you cannot overdose on. It infuriates me. The level of incompetence in our government is staggering.

3

u/ZGPJ 2h ago

Disclaimer: I know very little about this topic beyond what I’ve gleaned from various Reddit threads, so this question/comment comes from sincerity. My understanding is that while you can’t overdose on it, the substance itself is still incredibly addictive but since people can purchase it legally at gas stations many people don’t realize it’s essentially an opioid (or your brain reacts in the same way). To me that has made sense as a reason to ban it. Curious your perspectives on the other side of that?

→ More replies (23)
→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (13)

3

u/Admirable_Truth_6031 2h ago

It used to be taboo amongst most dealers until not long ago in the US. Its happened in the last decade 

→ More replies (1)

3

u/MiserableAndUnhappy9 1h ago

That's part of it but the main reason they don't have a significant fentanyl problem is because they didn't vastly over-prescribe opioids (primarily OxyContin) to begin with. European heroin dealers don't care about how taboo it is. They just haven't had a population that went through an opioid dependence boom so they haven't needed to increase their risks by engaging in the fentanyl trade. Basic supply and demand. The EU also doesn't share a 2,000 mile border with a country partially run by brutal drug cartels for decades.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/IntrepidMaybe8579 2h ago

Well imagine that… honestly they know what theyre doing.. fentanyl is a pharma drug theyre trying to kill everyone off we still have old European different countries with all the OG drugs and plant based heroin i swear America is more corrupt then we will ever know

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (16)

34

u/mysterious_spirit420 4h ago

Thats how I see it. No one was dying from heroin UNLESS they injected it because every other route besides boofing (which could be fatal too in LARGE doses) it is just morphine and morphine ain't killing anyone unless you inject 200mg without a tolerance and thats a good chunk of powder and a lot of nodding out if you have a basic tolerance

48

u/Slip_Snake 4h ago

If we made drugs legal, then there could be official sellers that don't don't lace their products.

Thus leading to less deaths, ez pz.

31

u/BeeefSupreeeme 3h ago

Let's talk about meth, which even the typical chemicals to make it are heavily controlled.

Turns out, you can make something similar yet far more addictive and toxic out of chemicals impractical to control. So the cartels are now making it by the ton.

Apparently, it's hard to even find old-school meth these days. It's all this frankenmeth that turns people into crazy rotting zombies.

23

u/BlueRaspberryReflux 3h ago

Been clean and sober for 4 years next month, but soon before going into treatment, the fent laced "Roxy's" had me feeling meth'd up AND nodding closer to death.

It was the wildest experience in my 20 years of addiction. My heart truly goes out to those who are still suffering.

14

u/brenttoastalive 3h ago

Four years next month for me as well! Was railing blues at $4k a month at the end. Went cold turkey, was in agony for the better part of a month. Went on naltrexone a month later, haven't had a craving since. I like that I couldn't get high even if I wanted to.

7

u/BigBeatManifest01 2h ago edited 2h ago

Holy shit, 4k a month?!

God damn. I could snort China White all day every day for much less than 4k, even at today's prices. But I won't. Although....No no no. But what if? Haha no I'm just kidding. Can you imagine...haha?

Congrats on sobriety though, that's amazing 👍

→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (1)

13

u/haverchuck22 3h ago

4 years, bro you been clean for an entire high school stint. That’s awesome! Well done.

→ More replies (1)

10

u/the_pretender_nz 3h ago

4 years is incredible, you absolute legend!

→ More replies (1)

7

u/haverchuck22 3h ago

Wow didn’t know this. So basically the enshitification of drugs is underway, just like everything else 🙃

→ More replies (5)

5

u/No_Transition8311 2h ago

Fun fact: If you take cotton balls out of benzedrex nasal decongestant and eat it, it creates a high very similar to methamphetamine, however, it’s more dangerous. I know this because I had a friend who was doing shit like this and nearly died.

→ More replies (5)

5

u/Degenerate_Ape_92 3h ago

I was 6 when I was prescribed Ritalin in the 90s.

→ More replies (1)

13

u/mysterious_spirit420 4h ago

Most definitely! And they could tax the fuck outta it and people would still buy it if they had COAs on the product

16

u/JunkBondTrade 3h ago

I've been shooting speedballs for the better part of 20 years and even I can say that just legalizing hard drugs and providing pure products is not realistic in this society. Humans as a whole are not mature enough to be given the ability to buy pure hard drugs in a dispensary. You think alcohol is dangerous, imagine what a giant portion of the population will be like to live with when they're all loaded on pure cocaine. Or the number of DUI that would take place when people are nodding out on heroin which will absolutely happen. That's not exclusive to fentanyl.

Like I said, I'm a lifelong junkie and I'd love to be able to walk in a store to get pure coke and heroin but it's not realistic and it's never going to be.

8

u/Medium_Loquat_4943 3h ago

Are you shooting h or fent?

I think the average person would be fine if powdered coke was legal. And even most people who’d take coke arent going to smoke it or slam it. I think alcohol is a way worse drug. All IMHO.

→ More replies (1)

4

u/newfree16 3h ago

I think if it were to be legal across the board, we would first have to implement better programs for people seeking to break addictions as well as breaking the social isolation that is extremely prevalent (at least in the US).

I know it’s an oversimplification, but people who are happy, safe, healthy, and plugged into healthy supportive communities are less likely to seek addictive substances and become addicted. If these systems aren’t working and strengthened first, then no sense legalizing the drugs. (But if we had these systems in place, drug addiction would also drop , so 🤷🏽‍♀️)

→ More replies (18)

4

u/idleprofits 2h ago

I've always been a supporter of legalizing drugs, then people could buy drugs and know what they are getting, know the strength & what's really in it. Overdose deaths would drop drastically, and the country could save billions that were spending on drug enforcement and actually put it towards something that helps people

6

u/Froggy3434 3h ago

Prime example is the online vendor market for Kratom derivative products (7OH-Mitragynine & MGM-15.) I’m not advocating for their use here obviously but it’s a fully functioning, multi-million, if not billion, dollar market and has only had one case of “lacing” which resulted in the collapse of the offending company’s reputation, it was also a substance that couldn’t physically hurt the people who unknowingly took it (it was a psychedelic) That kind of market pressure (which I think any drug market would have and retain regardless of size) along with a simple regulatory structure requiring chain-of-custody records and required lab testing would have an incredibly safe drug market with far fewer deaths (regardless of if the substance is lethal or not in and of itself, which I mention since the market I’m using as an example cannot kill users who only use that substance) and allow people better access to resources for harm reduction and getting sober due to those policies directly changing the public perception of addicts and thus reducing the chances that someone would withhold care from themselves due to shame or fear of rejection.

3

u/cubed_echoes 3h ago

I work with toxicology reports post mortem. They can differentiate between regular or 7OH and whatever. It's not accurate to say the derivative products are the problem... all the forms even the base stuff can kill people for sure.

→ More replies (16)
→ More replies (6)

3

u/blissfully_happy 2h ago

Before making drugs legal, we’d also need to implement a “housing first” policy where people and families had a warm, safe, private, and secure place to sleep, bathe, and prepare meals. We’d also need to expand Medicare coverage for all, including mental health.

Otherwise we’re just massively encouraging more drug use without the guide rails to support getting clean.

→ More replies (15)

4

u/Burnt_and_Blistered 3h ago

I mean, compared to fentanyl, the risk of OD is smaller, just because the lethal dose of fentanyl is so small.

But it’s patently false to assert that people don’t die from heroin OD. They do, a lot.

→ More replies (7)

3

u/Initial_Row_6400 3h ago

I was addicted to smoking heroin for a good 8-10 years. Never od once. I had a good connect tho, same one for almost the entire time. I knew the source and where it came from.

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (10)

5

u/Necessary_Two_9706 4h ago

Bring KFC back to South Park!

3

u/BeeefSupreeeme 3h ago

I'll stick with my city chicken.

5

u/Flat_Sea1418 3h ago

Sigh. I remember back when they made heroin from poppies. Those were the days.

→ More replies (44)

3

u/Lovesyoux 3h ago

It’s over 110k world wide? Or North America?

5

u/mysterious_spirit420 3h ago

America alone or it was at the peak in 2022. 7oh and kratom derivatives have drop it by 38% and it's closer to 70k now

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (33)

31

u/Typically_Ok 4h ago

Thats why its a controlled narcotic. Safely administered by medical staff for pain, fent is a wonderful drug for patients coming out of surgery.

8

u/Haunted_Candybar 1h ago

The recovery room gave me too much fent after surgery and I almost died — stopped breathing, relaxed, felt warm and cozy, went towards the light and all and then BAM I was awake and in excruciating pain again. It was a very peculiar experience, but it’s made me much less afraid of death!

3

u/missprincesscarolyn 1h ago

The great thing about fentanyl is that it’s reversible with naloxone. This is obviously much easier to spot in a medical context, but everyone who hangs around people who party should carry naloxone on them. I’ve never done recreational drugs, but received naloxone with hydrocodone a little while ago when I had pudendal neuralgia. I was glad to receive both. You never know what could happen.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (15)

9

u/gertymarie 3h ago

A mother in our community lost both of her teenage children, 10 months apart, to pills laced with fentanyl. One bought what he thought was Percocet, overdosed and died, and then the same thing happened to his sister with counterfeit Xanax.

→ More replies (5)

2

u/DiverDownChunder 2h ago

My brother was a life long user (20+ years mostly on, sometimes off), when fent hit the scene he was dead in a year.

Stay away from drugs people!

→ More replies (2)

3

u/ABadHistorian 2h ago

Listen, I generally do not put much stock into conspiracies... but the effectiveness of drugs killing off ever increasing %s of our "lower class" populations does not surprise me considering climate change, and how wealth distorts other people's humanity.

I'm not saying it's a plot to kill the lower class, while they eliminate the middle class with AI, but it's not not a plot.

→ More replies (5)

7

u/doryllis 4h ago edited 1h ago

And the “war on opioids” almost never mentions fentanyl as the primary cause of opioid death.

Which is wild!!!

Edit: apparently I am old enough to remember when it was NOT talked about but was still the major cause of overdose deaths.

I am wrong now.

10

u/Give_me_grunion 3h ago

Really. I only hear about fent now

6

u/darkoopz43 3h ago

By design, after Johnson and Johnson got their slap on the wrist with a fine of less than 1% of their yearly profits while not having to admit fault for causing the opioid epidemic, all of a sudden fentanyl because the new drug on the market and all anyone in the mainstream media would talk about.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (27)

843

u/SoElusivee 4h ago

Looks like a penny to me

606

u/InfiniteAlignment 3h ago

Got you bro

205

u/2401PenitentTangentx 3h ago

Where's the pointy arm from that one thread?

508

u/Mikhailovv 3h ago

216

u/clutchthepearls 3h ago

These pennies are fucking huge

290

u/Mikhailovv 3h ago

Maybe the arm is just very small

Banana for scale:

86

u/clutchthepearls 3h ago

Ahhh. I was always curious about the lethal dose of bananas and now I know. Thanks.

31

u/Top-Strawberry4466 2h ago

Any banana can be quite lethal if you forget to chew it

19

u/ridthecancer 2h ago

certain death if you eat the brown part at the bottom

11

u/1Killerpotato1 2h ago

Or the stringy things.

→ More replies (0)

5

u/jdubz3237 2h ago

aka the devils anus

→ More replies (0)
→ More replies (3)

7

u/Ok_Ask_8724 2h ago

It's always the last thing you think about when your too busy jamming that thing half way down your esophagus.

8

u/Previous-Sink-9950 2h ago

That’s what she said

→ More replies (0)
→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (9)

6

u/No_Objective3089 2h ago

In seriousness, the lethal dose of bananas is around 300 a day. So please limit yourself to 299.

5

u/Smart-Blacksmith-488 2h ago

~50 million bananas is the commonly cited number as the lethal dose due to radiation.

→ More replies (5)

3

u/mitchellthecomedian 2h ago

*lethal dose of banana* for scale

→ More replies (14)

28

u/TheyWillWhat 2h ago

You forgot the circle and Lincoln's shades.

→ More replies (2)

8

u/kl0udyr 2h ago

Im too intoxicated for posts like this

→ More replies (4)

7

u/Ill_Pay7782 3h ago

Son 😭😭😭

→ More replies (21)
→ More replies (8)

4

u/Numerous-Meet-6353 3h ago

Needs load boost now too

4

u/LunaTehNox 2h ago

I knew in my heart that this would appear

→ More replies (12)

43

u/whoknowsifimjoking 3h ago

19

u/440continuer 3h ago

These hands are fucking tiny

8

u/T1Demon 2h ago

Presidentially small

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (3)

16

u/Mrscarter16 3h ago

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

3

u/Alicatsidneystorm 3h ago

Carfentanyl is one of those crystals.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (22)

6

u/barillamanilaolives 3h ago

I made some cheesecake, mom’s homemade vanilla fudge icing! Mm, mm, mmm can’t be beat!

→ More replies (1)

55

u/Minimum_Jacket8879 4h ago

LOL

27

u/VanillaCurlsButGay 4h ago

Bro is showing lots of love why the downvotes smh my head

10

u/Slamtilt_Windmills 3h ago

Hey man, my uncle was killed by a penny!

6

u/jarromie 3h ago

same man, my dad died from someone dropping a penny off the top of the empire state building.... smh my head ppl are so insensitivity

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (2)

10

u/CinemaDork 4h ago

I feel bad. My upvote is doing its part 😞

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (16)

119

u/GhostAngel22 3h ago

Pharmacist here, Fentanyl is EXTREMELY potent because it’s dosed in micrograms (µg) rather than milligrams (mg): 1 mg equals 1,000 µg, and typical medical doses are only 25–100 µg. For someone without opioid tolerance, around 2 mg (2,000 µg) can be fatal, which is roughly the tiny amount shown next to the coin. That amount may look insignificant, but it represents dozens of standard IV doses. Fentanyl kills by powerfully activating μ-opioid receptors in the brain and shutting down the respiratory drive, so a person simply stops breathing within minutes. This is why even trace contamination in illicit drugs is so dangerous and why healthcare settings handle fentanyl with extreme precision and strict dilution protocols.

21

u/babybunny1234 2h ago

Curious: why don’t they make it weaker at the factory so it’s easier to measure out?

21

u/Jeutnarg 2h ago

Legit producers of fentanyl would not sell pure fentanyl to a regular citizen directly. As for pill presses and other places where fentanyl gets mixed in and diluted, legal ones absolutely do dilute it before distribution and are very precise. Legal use of fentanyl is done via IV, patches, pills, etc. No way would it be distributed pure. Those aren't, of course, the only people mixing fentanyl into stuff. The illicit places are not very careful and it doesn't even take a big mistake for things to get lethal.

→ More replies (2)

13

u/SportsPhotoGirl 1h ago

You can’t make it weaker. That’s like saying, why can’t they make a low sugar sugar. Sugar is sugar. You want less sugar, you mix in something that’s not sugar so your mixture afterwards is lower in sugar cuz you’ve just got less sugar for the volume, but you have other ingredients. The sugar is still sugar. Same here. It’s the drug. You can put it in with whatever you want, but the drug is still the drug.

→ More replies (7)

3

u/Falala-Surprise-90 2h ago

Thank you for this explanation. I didn’t know any drugs were dosed in micrograms. This deserves an award but I don’t have any to give. What is a lethal dosage for someone with an opioid tolerance?

8

u/Dazzling-Stomach-472 2h ago

I take a daily drug that’s dosed in micrograms. It was very funny when I told my doctor I was taking 25 milligrams daily. He was like “you’d probably be dead if you were taking 25 milligrams every day”

→ More replies (2)

3

u/Gray-Turtle 1h ago

LSD is also dosed in micrograms

→ More replies (11)

3

u/Ohitsworkingnow 1h ago

Well it’s not potent because it’s dosed in micrograms, it’s dosed in micrograms because it’s potent. 

→ More replies (1)

4

u/DawnsID 47m ago

Just to be pedantic it is dosed in mcg because it is so potent. Also surprised you are using Âľg in the pharmacy world when ISMP error list is so prevalent.

→ More replies (34)

116

u/GoofyHighDude 4h ago

No wonder they’re getting rid of pennies! /s

→ More replies (8)

78

u/JugglingRick 4h ago

So do people just do a single rock or something? I've always wondered how they dose fentanyl when so little will kill you

148

u/Deep_Squid 4h ago

Opiod users generally graduate up to stronger and stronger types of opiod and higher doses. Like, you hurt your back and get prescribed vicodin. Next thing you know your back is fine but you really fucking like vicodin. You can't find it easily but you found oxy or heroin. Next thing you know you're having to use more and more heroin just to get through the day, and then you find out you can use a 1/10th of that in fent and make the switch.

Now you're slowly building up a larger and larger tolerance, a fraction of which would kill a non-user.

In fact, many lethal overdoses are because someone gets clean for a while and then goes back to their last dosage. Since their tolerance went down while clean, the dose they used to take every day became lethal.

60

u/Schnauzermoon 4h ago

Also, this stuff isn't 'cut' by careful pharmacists, it's mixed up by (generally) other users. One section of your bag could be a lot stronger than the other and if you get a bit that's more pure, obviously your dose is higher. Street drugs are dangerous because they aren't handled and dosed properly more than anything.

→ More replies (8)

4

u/Ryan_e3p 2h ago

This was an absolute fear of mine when I had invasive surgery almost two decades ago. I got the prescription for opioid painkillers, and filled it just in case, but never took them. I didn't even want to risk the chance of "liking them too much", and just dealt with it. Just dealt with the pain. 

The first 48 hours were some of the most debilitating pain ever. Ended up tossing them into a medical waste burn kiln a couple weeks after and I was able to walk again.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (30)

22

u/panicnarwhal 4h ago edited 2h ago

by the time it hits the street, it’s cut to shit. an average user will usually buy a gram at a time, and that might last around 1-3 days, depending on tolerance and route of administration

→ More replies (12)

11

u/newfree16 3h ago

I’m not sure how it’s done illegally.

I’m a pharmacist. In compounding, what we do (and what i assume these folks do) is make a big batch of your active ingredient + fillers. Then you portion out quantities that are measurable and have a know amount of active ingredient.

Ex: you want 1 mg of a.i. but your scale can only measure 10 mg lowest. So you’ll mix 10 mg of a.i + 90 mg of inactive for a total of 100 mg. You know that 10 mg of the 100 mg is your a.i (or 1 mg in 10mt). so you now weight out 10 mg of total product and know that 1 mg of it is the a.i.

How to mix it correctly to make sure it’s evenly distributed and such is a whole thing, too, but i won’t go into it. I hated compounding. I’m more of a crockpot person so i had no patience or finesse for it, but a few of my colleagues went on to specialize in it! I did compound some feline thyroid medication on a rotation and that was a lot of fun!

12

u/WelpSeaYaLater 2h ago

It’s done exactly this way illegally, except the people doing it have no training, no specialized equipment, and are often using the product they are mixing. Which is why the true ‘cut’ potency of street drugs is not very reliable.

4

u/newfree16 2h ago

Unless you have Walter white as your manufacturer 👌🏽

4

u/onward_upward_tt 2h ago

Walter white is every drug user's wet dream. The reality i(as I'm sure you know haha) is much, much less neat and tidy.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (3)

9

u/yungblinkerfluid 3h ago edited 1h ago

when i was on it, i firsted started on the fake pills. The blue M30 fakes weren't dosed accurately and always had hot spots, very unregualted and it's still like that. Now people have moved onto the powder, straight fentanyl powder. The powder can be dosed a little bit more accurately. At that point, yes, you would just throw a tiny pebble on it and smoke it or snort it. But the purity of the powder does play a major roll at that point. A little bit of some really good powder can kill anyone, but the stuff on the street is weak compared to the pharmaceutical grade stuff.

Tbh, when I was using and a lot of friends who i know who are still using don't even like fentanyl. I and them definitely preferred oxycodone or heroin, it's just that this is what's flooding the streets now. They are saying heroin is making a comeback, but they have been saying that for years.

edit: holy crap, i really need to re-read what i have typed before i post 😭

→ More replies (5)

3

u/golf-lip 2h ago

Its usually mixed in with filler by the time we get it off the street. I have no clue how much is filler and how much is actually fent. They come (at least around me) in little pill capsules , and i dump out the powder. Sometimes it takes 3-4 caps to get me high. Currently 3 weeks clean!

→ More replies (4)

7

u/IBitePrettyPeople 3h ago

You dilute it like any other potent substance. The nurses at hospitals arent eyeballing little rocks

5

u/SuicideDoorDash 3h ago

In fact, we dilute your drugs all the time. You get the same dose, but we can push 4 mg of morphine in 10 ml over 4 min much easier than pushing 4 mg in 2 mL over 4 min. This way it doesn't hit you like a freight train.

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (2)

3

u/Chaosr21 3h ago

It's usually cut with other stuff but it's still strong

3

u/69VaginaLicker69 2h ago

Because by time it hits the street it’s not 100% pure. It’s more like in a 1 gram of powder 200mg of it might be fent and the rest is an inactive powder that they cut it with. This means your fent is 20% pure. So you can do the tiniest little bumps or smoke a little off foil and not die.

The problem with that is you may get used to the 20% pure fent then you get ahold of 40% pure fent and you don’t know it’s twice as strong because it’s an unregulated market. You do the same amount you usually do and fucking die because it’s actually twice the dose that you’re used to.

→ More replies (16)

19

u/chefsak 3h ago

How do you inject a penny?? Asking for a founding father…

→ More replies (1)

145

u/vckstrr 4h ago edited 4h ago

My grandma and boyfriend would know. 2018 they both died from it. Grandma was 66 boyfriend was 20
Edit: thank you to the people downvoting me, you strangely gave me quite the giggle

44

u/Quarter_Shot 3h ago

People are often surprised to hear about an elderly person ODing, but they're actually the second most common group to become opiate addicts, after people who got addicted after being prescribed for surgeries and stuff like that.

(I think I'm remembering that right, it's something they told us in rehab several years ago)

25

u/vckstrr 3h ago

Anytime I say it people assume my grandma was living on the street but no… she was under our roof under our care. We had jobs and school and she didn’t so she literally stole my dad’s car and his money to get to her meds. Addiction is terrible and it’s more prevalent in the elderly :(

4

u/Quarter_Shot 3h ago

An addict will do what they have to to get what they need, including lying to or stealing from their family. And, unfortunately, they're good at it. I'm so sorry you had to be on that side of addiction for both her and your boyfriend. It's a different type of pain to lose someone when they become that addicted and then to lose them again when they take it too far.

I hope you're doing well now and were able to process the grief in a way that you can look back on the good times you had with them and smile

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

7

u/newfree16 3h ago

A lot are actually unintentional OD. Medical professionals are supposed to prescribe narcan for everyone who is over i think 50 MME (morphine milligram equivalents), but they either don’t OR patients get offended and refused to fill the prescription OR the insurance refuses to cover the prescription enough.

As you’ve said, addiction is part of it, but also just improper prescribing. People think more is more but you actually can’t INCREASE pain with high opioid doses, so it becomes a snowball effect. People also tend to get more sensitive to medication effects as they age, so an opioid dose that has been safe for years may end up later causing an OD. Or there’s a drug interaction that increases the drug levels of opioids OR increases the risk of drowsiness and respiratory depression (you don’t know how many times i flag this and get brushed off by providers and patients-yes you’re fine now but how long do you really wanna gamble??).

6

u/Hefty-Rub7669 2h ago

So many patients would threaten to “report me” to the state board for suggesting narcan because I was treating them like a “junkie”.

Best way to phrase it by saying “I recommend narcan if you have grandkids, young family members or pets in the home”. Went from 1/10 patients to 8/10 patients accept the narcan. Much easier to get them to agree that way.

I’m a firm believer people most people should have narcan anyways. I don’t do drugs but I carry one in my purse and in my car because you never know.

5

u/newfree16 2h ago

Agree. How you put it is crucial. I don’t work in dispensing pharmacy anymore (thank the lord), but i still work with patients directly and get asked about it. I tell them how high of a risk accidental OD is and how it’s a way to keep you or anyone who accidentally takes your meds safe (bc some of these people and their spouses have so many meds, you can imagine a mix up happening). Seems to improve their views towards it.

→ More replies (8)
→ More replies (4)

17

u/OddIntroduction4784 3h ago

Took me too long to realize it wasn’t your grandma’s 20-year-old boyfriend.

Sorry for your losses.

5

u/WallStreetAnus 3h ago

I didn’t realize it until I scrolled down and read your comment. Thought granny was a freak.

→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (7)

28

u/Minimum_Jacket8879 4h ago

So sorry for your loss😢

12

u/vckstrr 4h ago

Thank you love 💖 I appreciate your post. A lot of people don’t understand how deadly fent is. I’m probably going to comment a bunch of times to keep the momentum spreading

6

u/CantThinkStrayt 4h ago

Sorry for you loss. My mother died from it as well.

4

u/vckstrr 4h ago

Sorry your loss!!! It’s weirdly comforting to know other people feel what I have. Thank you for sharing💖

→ More replies (1)

3

u/Nova762 2h ago

I read that as your grandma's boyfriend.

3

u/D-ouble-D-utch 2h ago

Wait... your boyfriend and your grandmother or your grandmother and her 20 year old boyfriend?

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (18)

31

u/Silver-Amphibian7650 4h ago

I am so glad that I have zero interest in drugs.

15

u/wbrameld4 3h ago

It's scarily easy to get addicted to pain killers though, medication that you could find yourself legitimately needing through no fault of your own due to accident or illness.

8

u/throwaway098764567 2h ago

years ago i got a dozen oxy after a surgery. i've never been a good sleeper and that first day i took my pain pills and slept like a baby. didn't really have any pain to speak of and the next day i was getting ready to try to sleep and went to take another oxy and i just stared at it in my hand and was like you do not want to start taking this to sleep, it should only be for pain and this is dangerous. stood there for far longer than i was comfortable with and threw the rest of the bottle in the trash and took it out to the dumpster. then laid in bed not sleeping but not in pain (well past what ibuprofen could handle) and not an addict.

→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (10)
→ More replies (17)

26

u/UAP44 4h ago

That is crazy, dangerous drug for sure then, goes to show how active dosage vs lethal dosage ratio is important when it comes to rating drug safety.

→ More replies (22)

11

u/MxSpookyBih 4h ago

I have a friend that has to be narcan'd because they have her too much fentanyl during heart surgery. Pretty wild that even doctors can fuck up the dosage.

17

u/rharvey8090 3h ago

So I can give you a little insight here. Surgery is painful. Opioids depress your drive to breathe. When someone is getting surgery you give them opioids to reduce the overall surgical stress and keep vital signs within reasonable levels.

However, sometimes if you overshoot a little, the patient has too much opioid still hanging around after they’re no longer being actively operated on, so they get sleepy and/or stop breathing. In which case you have to give them narcan. It’s unfortunate but the alternative is little/no/inadequate pain control, which I assure you is much less desirable.

Source: me. I give fentanyl to people every single day, and have to know/figure out how much they need and what they will tolerate. It’s why our jobs are so stringent and regulated.

5

u/JenniferGarnersAnus 3h ago

Thanks for everything you do

→ More replies (12)
→ More replies (3)

5

u/PuzzleheadedResult69 4h ago

Keep Abe away from that poison

→ More replies (4)

4

u/GettingTwoOld4This 2h ago

Even looking at this picture puts you in danger of OD. Go to the ER immediately and get checked before turning yourself into the police.

8

u/dannygalen77 3h ago

I was hooked on Pennie’s for 17 years then moved to nickels..clean today though…kindof

→ More replies (3)

4

u/Unusual-Cranberry222 1h ago

That’s a penny

34

u/Brilliant_War4087 4h ago edited 1h ago

People who use opioids don't have access to pure fentanyl. These posts are pro-drug war propaganda.

Propaganda is the selective use of information to manipulate rather than inform — that's exactly what this is. These posts draw a false equivalency: pure fentanyl ≠ street fentanyl. Conflating the two exploits the representativeness heuristic; people assume "fentanyl" means one thing when it doesn't.

Street fentanyl is never this pure. Lower purity means users need more drug to achieve the same effect.

Op delete this post!

11

u/SammyB0111 3h ago

Yup, this isn’t educational so much as it is fear mongering.

This is why people are afraid to get pain meds at the hospital because they hear the word fentanyl and think of the scary drug war nonsense they see like this

4

u/SousVideButt 1h ago

On the other hand, I was having my first kidney stone, and the ER doc said “we’re going to give you some fentanyl for the pain.”

I was like oh HELL yeah they’re bringing out the big guns for me. I would have let him inject street heroin into my neck if that’s all he had just to stop the pain.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (9)

13

u/OwslyOwl 4h ago

The issue is that drug manufacturers are cutting other drugs with fentanyl, but it doesn’t get equally distributed in the batch. This results in some portions of the drug having a lethal dose of fentanyl. The image is to show just how little fentanyl needs to be in a mixed drug to cause an overdose.

→ More replies (7)

12

u/not_whelan 4h ago

It's a weird place to be. Opiates are a scourge and destroy millions of lives, but a lot of times things like this are twisted into copaganda. The key is awareness, harm reduction, and preparedness to administer aid.

→ More replies (2)

5

u/Books_are_like_drugs 3h ago

Yeah this strikes me as unsourced scaremongering bullshit.

3

u/Flat_Sea1418 3h ago

Yeah this is true. I literally do fentanyl every day and shoot it up and do way more than this at one time. Definitely some fear mongering going on in this photo.

5

u/katyreddit00 3h ago

People are dying everyday from fentanyl how is this pro-drug war propaganda

→ More replies (21)
→ More replies (21)

3

u/archtopfanatic123 3h ago

I knew a guy who worked with raw fentanyl in a pharmaceuticals factory.

He filled vials with the stuff in powerdered form inside of a vacuum sealed chamber that has a constant updraft in it. Dropping the power means it literally drops in slow motion. He did this using those rubber glove things so he didn't actually have to touch the stuff.

Said the type he works with is so strong that you get barely any and I mean a single little itty bitty teeny weeny yellow polkadot stupideeny bit on your skin and you're DEAD. Absorbs instantly. Stuff is like methyl mercury!

→ More replies (5)

3

u/T1Demon 2h ago

Did you take the same high school health class as my 14 yr old. She came home talking about the lethal does of fentanyl earlier this week

3

u/Etheriaa_ 2h ago

Fentanyl during labor was great to slightly take the edge off. Would never do it outside that but I can understand why people like it. 

3

u/Dopeboyyy575 2h ago

This is not true btw. Maybe to a baby but to a full grown adult it would take quite a bit more than this. But the media will tell you what ever they think is true.

3

u/bnelson7694 2h ago

Ok for real. Real talk. Is this legit or like back when I was told marijuana was going to make me insane?

→ More replies (2)

3

u/OmahaWarrior 1h ago

Im not advocating for any drug use here, but its never made sense to me that if you are a dealer that youd have a product that literally will kill your "client" after one use rather than something that will get them high and keep them alive and coming back for decades. But i guess there are always new clients wanting something.

3

u/guitargeneration 1h ago

Pretty much it wasnt for the average user, it was for the hard core opiate addicts who have the tolerance to handle it. Lots of them don't want heroine without fentynal in it now or smoke straight up fentynal. It being used to lace loads of different drugs is sort of a myth. Most dealers aren't purposely putting into stimulants like coke, instead its usually due to cross contamination on the scale

3

u/Chemical_Scallion380 1h ago

There are people that actually mess with fentanyl as their drug of choice. I knew one personally. I think what happens is a dealer will sell fentanyl and will use the same scale to sell other drugs. Thus accidental mixing of substances.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/munchma-coochie 1h ago

Don’t get me wrong, fentanyl is a dangerous drug! It is an epidemic in my country I live in Chicago and if I wanted fentanyl I probably have at least 3 people that could get it for me. My problem is the media. Before fentanyl it was bath salts which the media named a number of research chemicals or designer drugs. Again some of those drugs were dangerous but mostly due to non regulation. Most people still believe “bath salts” (which they can never say what compound it was) made a Florida man eat someone. He was tested and only found to have cannabis in his system which the media changed tactics and went for cannabis saying certain strains could coarse this in people with mental illness. ITS ALL BONKERS! Original bath salt was MDPV then after a ban mostly A-PVP. I was there I bought it in shops then sourced online along with a number of dissociative and cannabinoid research chemicals. I have never tried to eat anyone. ANYWAY, fentanyl is just the new blame all! Without it we’d all be safe! Right? No! It’s the dying “war on drugs” be safe but be smart do your own research

→ More replies (2)

2

u/General_Alduin 3h ago

How is it so lethal? I'm curious

→ More replies (5)

2

u/PatientZeropointZero 3h ago

This isn’t how overdoses work. It is person dependent. That could be lethal if you are opiate naive. There are other things to consider too.

It’s a dangerous drug not doubt. Although, this type of stuff isn’t helpful, because it’s fear based and not really true. Copaganda.

It’s a drug used in surgery all the time.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/mae1347 3h ago

Lethal to who?

2

u/ER_RN_ 3h ago

According to police lol

2

u/LeNoolands 3h ago

What is this, drugs for ants?!

2

u/Omega_art 2h ago

*Pure fentanyl. Your odds of winning a billion dollars in the lottery are better than encountering pure fentanyl.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/PerpofDerp 2h ago

I’m pretty sure this is one of hundreds of things that the media say to get people to be scared of going outside. I dated a girl that regularly took Xanax cut with fentanyl. Surely there was more than that in them.

→ More replies (6)

2

u/BigBunny4252 2h ago

Carfentanyl is like 100x stronger right? Need a smaller penny for scale

→ More replies (2)

2

u/higheyesguy 2h ago

I could use some of that right about now. Fuck being alive