Is there Safe Fentanyl Use?
Fentanyl
As a former labor and delivery nurse, I’ve administered
fentanyl many times. It works effectively for immediate pain relief and has a
short half-life (its effects leave the body quickly). Fentanyl is used all over
hospitals in surgeries, for pain relief, and for cancer patients.
We cannot ignore the benefits of fentanyl when prescribed
correctly. The National Institutes of Health
states when prescribed by a doctor, fentanyl can be given as a shot, a patch
that is put on a person’s skin, or as lozenges that are sucked like cough drops.
These medications can be very beneficial when consumed as prescribed. Individuals
with chronic pain and increased tolerance need relief to continue daily life. The
CDC has offered guidelines in 2016 and in 2022 for opioid prescription.
The guidelines aim to reduce unnecessary prescriptions while allowing use
for necessary medical conditions.
We all can agree, fentanyl is a powerful medication. Medications consumed above therapeutic levels pose health risks. Since fentanyl is so much
stronger than morphine, illicit chemical modifications and mixtures with other opioids
or benzodiazepines pose even more hazard. The fentanyl manufactured on the
illicit market is not regulated so many times one fentanyl laced pill can have
double or triple what another one in the same batch might have.
Here is where I advocate for easily accessible fentanyl test
strips and Narcan. These test strips allow for quick testing (about 5 minutes)
for fentanyl lacing in a drug. Narcan reverses the effects of an opioid
overdose. They are easy ways to keep people alive.
Support
Support exists in San Diego County, California in limited resources.
You may be the support person someone needs. Encourage your friend or family
member to join a recovery group if abuse is suspected. Offer to go with them to
meetings or help make phone calls.
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Know your community support programs.
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Harm Reduction
Coalition of San Diego (HRCSD) offers training, education, harm reduction
supplies and overdose prevention.
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Family Health Centers of
San Diego’s (FHCSD) offers a Syringe Services Program (SSP). San Diego’s
only syringe exchange program and offers comprehensive services to help people
who inject substances to reduce their risk of HIV and hepatitis transmission. The
mobile SSP unit provides individuals with harm reduction education, case
management, referrals to treatment and detoxification programs and one-for-one
syringe exchange.
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Advocate for free fentanyl test strips.
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The availability of testing strips is currently
minimal, and some states have laws against them, classifying them as "drug
paraphernalia." Test strips are currently sold online at dancesafe.org
and Amazon.
Some harm reduction programs also offer them free under state
programs.
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Advocate for free Narcan
Programs
o Learn how to use Narcan and have it available whenever opioids are used.
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