Fentanyl

Awake, but unable to speak. Nausea hits like a grenade, and the profuse vomiting seems bottomless. The body becomes limp as the breathing slows, and the pulse (heartbeat) is now erratic and eventually halts. This is the gut wrenching reality of an opioid overdose. Shockingly, or maybe not so shockingly, Ohio has the second-highest number of drug overdose deaths nationwide in 2014.

Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the US. There were 47,055 lives lost in 2014, due to lethal drug overdoses. In 2012, 259 million prescriptions were written for opioids, which is more than enough to give every American adult their own bottle of pills.

Opioids are used widespread across the globe, and people do not realize just how deadly they are.

America's addiction to opioid-based painkillers and heroin just got exponentially more dangerous. The most potent painkiller on the market, prescribed by doctors for cancer treatment, is being made illicitly and sold on the streets, delivering a super high and, far too often, death. The drug, fentanyl, has been around since the 1960s. Its potency works miracles, soothing extreme pain in cancer patients. The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Centers for Disease Control say we have another national health crisis on our hands.

Ohio alone reported 514 fentanyl-related deaths in 2014, up from 93 the year before. It is very difficult to detect because it can’t be seen, smelled, or tasted. Fatal overdoses are only a small part of the harms associated with the drug. Non-fatal overdoses, or the number of individuals seeking treatment for substance use disorders related to fentanyl, is outrageous. Police say they have ramped up efforts to target fentanyl dealers. Overdose touches too many, and together, we must work to lift up those who have been affected by it and all who remain vulnerable to it.