MYTH: You canoverdose by touching fentenyl. FACTS!

[wood714]

I've seen a few YouTube videos of cops getting pretty messed up during traffic stops that turned into drug busts of Fentanyl.

But we all know how dramatic they can be.

 

[smoothshooter]

MYTH: You canoverdose by touching fentenyl. FACTS!
No, you can/t accidentally overdose by touching fentanyl

Here is the truth behind the myth and three other common myths about fentanyl.

Here is the truth behind four common myths about fentanyl.

Myth: You can overdose by touching an item containing fentanyl.
Fentanyl isn't absorbed well by the skin. For fentanyl to have a physical effect on the body,
it must enter the bloodstream.
The symptoms people have reported when claiming they've touched fentanyl-laced items,
such as dizziness, heart rate increases and passing out, aren't consistent with a fentanyl overdose,


Myth: Breathing air in a room with fentanyl can make you sick.
Medical experts said this is false.
That's because fentanyl isn't volatile, meaning it doesn't easily become a vapor.


Myth: Fentanyl deaths in the U.S. are increasing because immigrants
are smuggling the drug through "open borders".
This is False.
most fentanyl is seized at official ports of entry and not between them,
where most migrants try to cross the border,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows.
And in 2022, 89% of convicted fentanyl drug traffickers were U.S. citizens.
"Drug traffickers deal with professionals, not amateurs, and they prefer U.S. citizens,"
Sanho Tree, director of the Drug Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies,
a progressive Washington, D.C.-based think tank, told PolitiFact in 2022.


Myth: Fentanyl smells like popcorn when it burns.
This is False.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that fentanyl is odorless and tasteless
There is no evidence that burning or smoking fentanyl will produce a popcorn-like scent,

Updated with work
Updated with source links.

Poynter - Poynter

No, you can't accidentally overdose by touching fentanyl - Poynter

This fact check was originally published by PolitiFact, which is part of the Poynter Institute.
See the sources for this fact check here.

PolitiFact | Common myths about fentanyl debunked: No, you can't accidentally overdose by touching fentanyl

From Poynter Institute
PolitiFact

"Progressive" Washington, D. C.- based policy think tank?
That phrase makes me suspicious right there.
Sounds like they are promoting the legalization of fentanyl.

Why are we having a discussion about how safe and harmless fentanyl is?

 

[smoothshooter]

Because if you Google it, you will see multiple sources stating the same thing.

You mean like the "sources" that stated that if we get the shot ( erroneously called a vaccine ) we won't get the China Virus?

 

[SweetMK]

A MAJOR misconception,,,,,,,,,,,

There is fentanyl

THEN there is

FENTANYL!!

One is pharmaceutical grade,,

THE OTHER IS STREET GRADE COMING FROM,,,,,,,,(#$^*@!)

This discussion of touching or breathing is meant to be when dealing with street grade.

Street grade is ,,,,,,,,,whatever!!,,,,,,,,,
Street grade is MANY times more powerful than the stuff in patches. MANY!

A very small amount of street grade, even when cut, can make many drugs into deadly poisons,,

 

[SweetMK]

My only contact with fentanyl was a neighbor using the patches about 15 years ago.

He had so much pain without the patch, he could not leave his bed.

He wanted to attend his grandsons wedding, so, his daughter figured that a SECOND patch would make him perfect,,

Well, half way through the reception,, he started to loose all control of his motor functions,,

I got him home (minus the two patches) and I sat with him for four hours to make sure he did not stop breathing.

I kept him awake, his family did not want medical assistance, it may have got his daughter in trouble.
That was LONG before fentanyl was in the news,,,

 

[GaryS]

I used to half joke that Narcan should be outlawed and Heroin legalized.

Then again I also half joked that airbags in steering wheels should be replaced by spikes so that people who wear seatbelts wouldn't have to pay for airbags.

Narcan allows one to OD repeatedly.

 

[biku324]

I used to half joke that Narcan should be outlawed and Heroin legalized.

Then again I also half joked that airbags in steering wheels should be replaced by spikes so that people who wear seatbelts wouldn't have to pay for airbags.

Aha - you're one of those 'feed the homeless to the hungry' guys!

 

[YeshuaIsa53]

If it's safe to touch and breathe, I would leave the room if someone smoked it.

They prefer to use American professionals, huh? Some of these so-called folk cut heroin with Fentanyl. Some people die, while others get hooked.
They do this because it makes people want to buy more. Professionals...

I've had to wear the patches before, but only for a day. I would not wear them every day, but only as needed. They worked. Think the others were Lidocaine.

In my humble opinion, walk away. The drug can act differently on different people, and on different medications people are taking. Toxic from overseas.

 

[Racer X]

In my humble opinion, walk away. The drug can act differently on different people, and on different medications people are taking. Toxic from overseas.

my partner was given fentanyl after a surgery 4? years ago. Didn't do a thing. When they did her knee last summer they used morphine, and it worked the way it was expected too. Not all "opioids" are equally effective.

And as for narcan being avail. Here in Seattle, if you have insurance, and are prescribed an ongoing opioid, you can just ask for the narcan at the pharmacy and they hand it to you, and bill your insurance. The county also had a program where you could request it for free from certain pharmacies. Funding ran out quickly from all the requests. We have some in the house because of mine and my partner's meds, and I keep one in the car as well, just in case. They are the nasal spray dispensers. I think the auto-injectors are pretty spendy because of the injector patents and liability insurance. The spray is simple and easy to make/administer.

Dosing someone with narcan who doesn't need it does NOT cause any harm. I suppose 12 doses might be toxic, but thats the extent.

opioids are neither good or evil. Its just how it is used that can cause issues. Like firearms

be safe, but don't be fearful.

 

[gjgalligan]

Because if you Google it, you will see multiple sources stating the same thing.

I see the problem, Google.
They don't have a very good track record of reporting both sides of a topic.

 

[cmj8591]

I used to half joke that Narcan should be outlawed and Heroin legalized.

Then again I also half joked that airbags in steering wheels should be replaced by spikes so that people who wear seatbelts wouldn't have to pay for airbags.

Someone at the Takata Air Bag Co. must have heard your joke.

 

[rwt1405]

One of us should be worried that we're both paramedics, both posted pretty much the same thing, and both have the same avatar picture. I'm just not sure which one.

Great minds think alike!

 

[Sistema1927]

Myth: Fentanyl deaths in the U.S. are increasing because immigrants
are smuggling the drug through "open borders".
This is False.
most fentanyl is seized at official ports of entry and not between them

This reminds me of something that happened in World War 2. Analysts were examining where aircraft that returned with battle damage had been shot in attempts to improve survivability. But then, they realized that the damage they were seeing was not the problem, and that aircraft that didn't return were probably shot up in different locations.

In other words, it's not on the drugs that are seized that we should be focusing, but the drugs that get through. And where do they get through? Where they are not seized.

 

[MRB1]

Sounds like it's about who you ask. I would suggest extensive experiments using fentanyl smugglers for a more accurate result.

 

[Onomea]

Sounds like it's about who you ask....

Well, Dr. Feldman, whose article is linked in post 8, seems like a prett good guy to ask...

...Dr. Ryan Feldman, PharmD is an Emergency Medicine Clinical Pharmacy Specialist as well as a Clinical Toxicologist and Certified Poison Specialist, who experienced first-hand occupational exposure to liquid fentanyl while attempting to dispose of a container with 950 mcg of aqueous fentanyl (95 mL x 10 mcg/ml). The exposure occurred over a large skin surface area including his ungloved hand, wrist, and forearm. Notably, the exposure involved skin barrier compromise due to a healing laceration on his hand and an abrasion on his wrist. The total potential exposure was estimated to be up to 380 mcg of fentanyl....

 

[Bekeart]

Moderators- Please Close This Thread.

It is getting too political.
Luckily it has avoided UFOs and Flat Earth theories.

Each member has an opinion.
Some opinion are dogmatic.

In some cases the only thing I am sure that two random members would agree on is 2 + 2 = 4.

But I might have to exclude mathematicians because of the possibility of imaginary numbers in a calculation.

Bekeart

 

[rwt1405]

Well, Dr. Feldman, whose article is linked in post 8, seems like a prett good guy to ask...

...Dr. Ryan Feldman, PharmD is an Emergency Medicine Clinical Pharmacy Specialist as well as a Clinical Toxicologist and Certified Poison Specialist, who experienced first-hand occupational exposure to liquid fentanyl while attempting to dispose of a container with 950 mcg of aqueous fentanyl (95 mL x 10 mcg/ml). The exposure occurred over a large skin surface area including his ungloved hand, wrist, and forearm. Notably, the exposure involved skin barrier compromise due to a healing laceration on his hand and an abrasion on his wrist. The total potential exposure was estimated to be up to 380 mcg of fentanyl....

Yep, that's why I added it!

 

[paplinker]

Have there been any recorded cases of police or paramedics dying of Fentanyl poisoning?