# Talk to your kids about Fentanyl. Now. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 5, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086 "2012-12-05T17:12:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![damagedgoods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecd19e/32.png) [@damagedgoods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/damagedgoods)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/41 "2012-12-06T21:27:42Z")
Doubt any of you remember but 5-8 yrs ago,the manufactured shit from Mexico came to Chi town & around 200 people died in a few month period.I was using at the time and everytime we heard of an o.d. we’d find out where the spot(it’s mixed w/herion,for an even better high)was and try to score before it was closed.Alot of spot’s in the city had fliers on lampposts('specially around Chicgo.& Palaski)urging people not to take any freebee’s.Dealer’s were trying out the shit on customers to see how much to cut the herion.Google fentanyl deaths-chicago & you’ll note many articles about it,even detailed map of one weekend that offed a bunch of us,showing where the people o.d. ---
**Author:** ![ASanders](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asanders/32/3367_2.png) [@ASanders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASanders)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/42 "2012-12-06T21:30:09Z")
This thread is heartbreaking. I’m so sorry for your loss, Soylent. ---
**Author:** ![damagedgoods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecd19e/32.png) [@damagedgoods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/damagedgoods)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/43 "2012-12-06T21:37:27Z")
Not only rare but not at all atributed to the drug,as alcohol or barbitutuates(sp?)would.Only way I could see death by opit.s whold be an anurysm, already in brain blowing. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/44 "2012-12-06T22:10:02Z")
> [@damagedgoods](#): > > Doubt any of you remember but 5-8 yrs ago,the manufactured shit from Mexico came to Chi town & around 200 people died in a few month period.I was using at the time and everytime we heard of an o.d. we’d find out where the spot(it’s mixed w/herion,for an even better high)was and try to score before it was closed.Alot of spot’s in the city had fliers on lampposts('specially around Chicgo.& Palaski)urging people not to take any freebee’s.Dealer’s were trying out the shit on customers to see how much to cut the herion.Google fentanyl deaths-chicago & you’ll note many articles about it,even detailed map of one weekend that offed a bunch of us,showing where the people o.d. The image of a gaggle of junkies crowding around the cooling corpse of one of their own— blue-faced, mouth dripping foam, syringe still hanging from one arm— and saying “I’ll have what _he_ had!” fills me with… something I’d rather not be filled with. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/45 "2012-12-06T23:51:26Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Well, one thing is that if other legal alternatives were available, few people would bother sucking the goo out of Fentanyl patches. But that’s probably a discussion for another thread. Yeah pull the other one. Oxy and others like it are pretty easy to get and still junkies go for this. Taking all controls off will not stop that. Unfortunately it’s not an easy problem to fix. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/46 "2012-12-07T00:48:25Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > The “anger” stage of grief hit me last night. I was casually thinking about the interview that Tina did back in June where she answered the question of “where do you get the drugs” with “There are nasty people. These people are older and sell it to teenagers.” > > …WTF. “Older people.” I had fantasies of getting her boyfriend to take me to these “older people” and shoving a picture of Tina in their faces and screaming “YOU KILLED THIS GIRL.” Of course because these people are sociopaths they’d be all like “She made the decision to take it - she did it to herself” to which I’d reply “YOU’RE THE FUCKING ADULT. You could have said “You’re a beautiful 19 year old with your whole life ahead of you - I’m not selling you these drugs.”” It’s freakin’ 100x more powerful than fucking heroin and these low-life bottom-feeders sell it to unsuspecting teenagers? THEY should be in the ground, not my beautiful teenaged niece who just graduated from high school. > > I honestly don’t know if Tina’s boyfriend who was with her when she died is the same boyfriend who got her hooked - she said in the interview that her “boyfriend” was doing Oxycontin and she was curious so he gave her some and that’s what got her addicted - and I really don’t want to know until after the funeral. I want to look at the guy with sympathy towards a dude who just lost his girlfriend. I’m sorry for your (and their) loss, but speaking as someone who has lost blood family members and a fiance (whom I dumped after finding out that he was a dealer AND and and an addict) to drug overdoses, it’s not other peoples fault. People are responsible for their own actions, and blaming the “nasty people” who sell drugs for money is classic addict behavior. Nothing is ever the fault of the alcoholic or the addict. Addicts and dealers are mutually dependent on each other. No one is making teenagers spend their money on drugs any more than they are making them spend it at the mall. It’s a choice, and some people make shitty choices. Some of those shitty choices end in heartbreak for the people who get left behind. This girl was already admittedly doing drugs when she asked her boyfriend for the Oxycontin. You don’t take one pill and become a raging addict. She was a high school student living at home and according to her mother, she refused to get help and only made excuses. You have to wonder where she got the money and the autonomy to make that decision. Was that the fault of the “boyfriend” too? Or was that perhaps a bit of parental enabling? They have one child left. Maybe you can direct some of your anger constructively to helping make sure they don’t let this child make decisions that a parent should be making. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/47 "2012-12-07T00:54:44Z")
> [@LurkerInNJ](#): > > I’m sorry for your (and their) loss, but speaking as someone who has lost blood family members and a fiance (whom I dumped after finding out that he was a dealer AND and and an addict) to drug overdoses, it’s not other peoples fault. People are responsible for their own actions, and blaming the “nasty people” who sell drugs for money is classic addict behavior. Nothing is ever the fault of the alcoholic or the addict. I am shocked it took this long for someone to point out the simple truth, which is that Tina killed herself thru her own (repeated) poor choices; Yes, of course it’s a terrible shame that she is dead, but making excuses for her is not a good way to honor her memory. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/48 "2012-12-07T04:45:07Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > The patches should never be used on someone who’s not already opioid-tolerant from sustained use of an oral opioid medication such as oxycodone, morphine, or similar. Slapping it on someone whose body is not accustomed to potent opioids is a good recipe for respiratory arrest or death. Which is what makes the patches so deadly when abused intermittently. > > The IV form of fentanyl is real good for surgical anesthesia. Also real good for a ticket to the morgue when diverted into someone else’s veins. > > I don’t prescribe the oral fentanyl popsicles (actiq) and break out into a sweat over the thought of handing those out to anyone. > > Fentanyl is very strong medicine, with a very, very high abuse potential. It’s often got a very narrow therapeutic window (the effective dose is just a tiny bit more than an ineffective dose, and a tiny bit less than a fatal one.) So it results in a lot of fatalities when abused. As is the horribly tragically sad case for our OP’s loved one. > > These sorts of bad, unintended outcomes are common with opioid abuse. > > When opioid addicts fail to get and stay clean, they tend to end up in prisons, institutions, or graveyards. This. I work in a hospital pharmacy and had no idea people on the street had access to this. If you knew the hoops the pharmacists have to jump through to dispense Fentanyl you would be astounded. If a patient comes in and is not already wearing a patch they don’t get one. It’s that extreme. (We have problems getting narcotics AT ALL! There is a national shortage of low dose morphine and hydromorphone (Dilaudid) I’m stunned something like this is on the streets.) ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/49 "2012-12-07T05:07:49Z")
In some country towns in Australia there are groups of thugs who get local elder people to hand over their supplies of this. Very much in the same way that they used to with Vicoden etc. This is bad shit… ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/50 "2012-12-07T06:42:17Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Exactly why I posted a thread on this subject in IMHO. Wonder what those who think everything should be legal think of this thread? Well I think \ should be legal, as in essentially sold OTC to those 18 or 21 and above. What you’re missing is that right now teenagers are acquiring drugs, drug prohibition didn’t stop this death. If an adult provides drugs or alcohol to a child then arrest and prosecute them for that. If all drugs were easily available maybe people wouldn’t be doing dangerous and crazy stuff like smoking or injecting gel out of a transdermal patch, they would use a safer and more dose consistent drug. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/51 "2012-12-07T08:22:22Z")
Every thing is legal. Cocaine is legal for eye surgery. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/52 "2012-12-07T08:53:51Z")
LOUD SIGH. Heroin is not legal. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/53 "2012-12-07T09:34:31Z")
I’m so sorry, **Soylent**. I’ve read the link I promise you that I will inform people on the dangers whenever it comes up. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/54 "2012-12-07T11:19:34Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > I am shocked it took this long for someone to point out the simple truth, which is that Tina killed herself thru her own (repeated) poor choices; Yes, of course it’s a terrible shame that she is dead, but making excuses for her is not a good way to honor her memory. Just don’t make the mistake of saying it’s 100% the addict’s fault, and I’m perfectly okay with that. It may sometimes be the case, but not always. If nothing else, involuntary addicts do exist–ask me how I know. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/55 "2012-12-07T15:31:27Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > I am shocked it took this long for someone to point out the simple truth, which is that Tina killed herself thru her own (repeated) poor choices I wondered when this would start being said, along with blaming her parents for “enabling” her, as if they don’t have enough grief and guilt of their own to deal with. None of that matters now - what matters is the heartbreak of seeing the devastation in Tina’s 80+ year old sweet, tiny, little old lady Grandmother’s eyes and having her 18 year old brother clinging to you sobbing in front of his sister’s open casket. Having to hold her 20 year old cousin as she looked into the casket for the first time all day and fell completely apart in her Auntie’s arms. Looking over at Tina’s stepdad (her Dad, really) while he watched the slideshow and seeing a single tear roll down his cheek. My shoulders and back are actually sore today from all the hugging and holding of crying people I had to do last night. It’s exhausting just to be strong for others, I can’t imagine how her loved ones are feeling. THAT, boys 'n girls, is the message that needs to get out to people about these drugs. It’s not about you. It’s about the people who love you who will be absolutely devastated when you finally kill yourself for a quick high. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/56 "2012-12-07T16:37:15Z")
Wasn’t that thedrug that killed Michael Tata from _American Casino_? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/57 "2012-12-07T17:36:19Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > … My shoulders and back are actually sore today from all the hugging and holding of crying people I had to do last night. It’s exhausting just to be strong for others… Yes. Yes it is. Good luck to you and yours, and I hope the weekend brings you some downtime for yourself. FWIW I mentioned this thread to Shoe the other night and he agreed that, after having been on fentanyl _ **while in major pain and in the ICU under doctor and nurse supervision** _ that yes, yes, oh my yes is it addictive. Treat yourself to a massage if you can possible hack it, **Soylent Juicy**. It won’t take away all the pain, but it can help. ---
**Author:** ![damagedgoods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecd19e/32.png) [@damagedgoods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/damagedgoods)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/58 "2012-12-09T00:04:40Z")
That’s why it’s such a Bitch of a drug,Shit That Kills also last’s longer,if ya don’t o.d…Think about it,it aint to hard to fathem is it?We(me ex)junkies are not cream of the crop!Some people shoot in abceses the size of a fist,share w/known H.I.V.-hep.C carrier’s & sell pussy for a hit. ---
**Author:** ![damagedgoods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecd19e/32.png) [@damagedgoods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/damagedgoods)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/59 "2012-12-09T00:15:08Z")
You’re bringing up a ficticous death from a fuk’n show on cable?IT’s reality idiot. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086/60 "2012-12-09T04:15:59Z")
Yes, [it was reality](http://www.8newsnow.com/story/2187269/fentanyl-confirmed-in-michael-tatas-death). His role was in a drama; his death was real. My condolences to you and to your friends, **Soylent Juicy**. It’s impossible to make any sense out of a senseless tragedy. I appreciate you all working through your grief to try to raise awareness and maybe prevent other families from going through this kind of heartbreak. My mom was prescribed Fentanyl patches for pain from rheumatoid arthritis, but she hated to use them and I had to dispose of an almost full box after she died. I took it directly over to her pharmacist because I was so nervous about the idea of having possession of them for even a day, much less trying to think of a way to safely discard them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl-now/643086.md?page=4)