How Fentanyl Has Impacted Kentucky
You’d had a long week at work and were ready to hang out with your friends to unwind and relax. You all were meeting at a local bar, one of your favorite spots, and you’d agreed to pick up some of your friends along the way.
When you pulled up to one of your friend’s houses, you noticed him popping some pills as he slid into the backseat of your car. He saw your gaze and asked if you wanted any. You declined, more interested in having a beer than trying what he was offering. You knew your friends had tried different substances before, and you’d joined in once or twice, but tonight you just wanted to get drunk with nothing else involved.
The evening was going along great. You and your friends were sharing a basket of wings as you chatted and casually watched the game on the TV. It was nice to not have something stressful going on for once. As the night wore on, however, you noticed the friend who you’d driven here was starting to act more than just intoxicated. He spaced out at times and one time you almost swore he wasn’t breathing, but when you nudged him he’d sit back up again and swear he was all good.
That was until he suddenly fell unconscious at the table. You tried to wake him up but his skin was clammy and he was nonresponsive. Your friend was experiencing a fentanyl overdose.
Here at CleanSlate, we’ve seen exactly how fentanyl and opioids can impact a community. We hear stories like this from our patients and their families. As a facility that offers comprehensive treatment to anyone who walks through our doors, we want to extend this same dedication to helping others in our community, too. With our level of expertise surrounding fentanyl use and how it can affect people, we wanted to help shed light on how cities like Bowling Green in Kentucky has been impacted by fentanyl use.
How Fentanyl Has Impacted Kentucky
Fentanyl has been impacting people across the nation, and the people of Kentucky are no exception to this. In fact, Kentucky was ranked 4th in the highest number of opioid overdose deaths per capita in 2021.
From 2020 to 2021, the number of opioid overdose deaths in Kentucky increased by nearly 15% from 1,964 to 2,250. Numbers have decreased by 5% from 2021 to 2022 with 2022 having 2,135 deaths. The age group that was most impacted by opioid overdoses in 2022 was 35 to 44-year-olds with 643 deaths.
72.5% of all overdose deaths in the state involved fentanyl. By far, the county with the highest number of overdose deaths involving fentanyl was Jefferson County with 453 deaths.1
What Is Fentanyl Used For?
Fentanyl is an opioid. Opioids are narcotic substances that are primarily used in pharmaceutical settings for pain relief and anesthesia. Some forms of opioids are even in more common medications like NyQuil and are utilized for cough suppression and cold and flu relief.
Fentanyl is used in pharmaceutical settings primarily for pain relief. Because of its potency, it’s not often used until other options have been explored and found to be ineffective. Most often the people who are prescribed fentanyl are cancer patients or post-surgical patients, and usually only when other pain relief measures have not been effective.
Is There a Difference Between Prescription Fentanyl and Illicit Fentanyl?
Both prescription and illicit fentanyl are highly potent, fully synthetic opioids. Many of the same effects can be felt from both forms. The biggest difference between the two is their safety levels.
No form of illicit drug use is safe. Fentanyl obtained from outside of medical prescriptions has no guarantee for what is within them. There is no regulation or requirement to be honest about ingredients, so you’ll never fully know what you’re putting into your body.
What Are the Dangers of Fentanyl?
Any substance has the potential to be dangerous, especially when used against medical advice. A few of the risks of fentanyl have already been mentioned, such as not knowing what’s in your substance if you obtain it illicitly. There are other risks, however. Let’s look at a few.
The two primary risks of illicit fentanyl use are developing a fentanyl use disorder, and experiencing a fentanyl overdose.
Fentanyl use disorders develop over time with long-term use. Fentanyl, like other opioids, has intense cravings involved with the withdrawal process. These cravings can increase the chance of continued fentanyl use. A fentanyl use disorder comes with long-term side effects like mood instability and respiratory impairment.
Fentanyl overdoses can happen even to those who aren’t knowingly consuming fentanyl. Their synthetic nature makes them a popular choice for drug lacing to save drug dealers money. Unfortunately, many people aren’t aware when their substance contains fentanyl. Due to its high potency, this unintentional polysubstance use has a drastically increased risk of overdose.
Opioid-based overdoses have high mortality rates if not treated properly. If you notice someone experiencing symptoms like slowed breathing, blue-tinted skin, limpness, pinpoint pupils, and unresponsiveness – don’t hesitate to call for medical help.
Is Prescription Fentanyl Dangerous?
It’s important to remember that fentanyl has been approved by the FDA for certain medical purposes. When you take a medication as prescribed and are open with your doctor about your side effects and concerns, your risks decrease greatly.
The primary risks involved in taking prescription fentanyl include withdrawal and overdose. As long as you take your dosages as instructed, you greatly reduce any potential risk of overdose. Withdrawals, however, can happen even to those who take fentanyl as prescribed.
Withdrawal occurs whenever your body gets used to a substance being within it regularly. When you remove that substance from your body, it has to adjust to it not being there. The side effects felt during this adjustment are known as withdrawal. Withdrawal doesn’t mean that you have an opioid use disorder, and many doctors work to avoid withdrawals by slowly lowering doses over time instead of stopping fentanyl use cold turkey.
If you have any questions or concerns about your fentanyl use, don’t be afraid to talk with your doctor.
How Can We Address the Fentanyl Crisis in Kentucky?
One of the most important things we can do to help with the fentanyl crisis is to spread awareness and understanding. Stigma is a large contributor to the fear of seeking help. Substance use disorders happen to many people, and it isn’t a reflection of their character. Fight stigma in those around you by using kind words, eliminating any judgment, and listening to what they’re going through.
If you want to learn more about the process of seeking recovery from fentanyl use, or you want to learn more about resources available in our community, CleanSlate is here for you. We have open availability to ensure you have access to help whenever you need it. Give us a call anytime at 833-505-4673 and our team will assist you.
Begin your recovery journey with a clean slate.
