Fentanyl is 100x more potent than heroin

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 News) – According to the CDC, fentanyl is now the most commonly used drug involved in overdoses in the United States. Experts in Utah are watching the fentanyl crisis on the East Coast carefully to see if it will make its way west.

Some say it’s already here.

“Everybody I know that’s done fentanyl is dead,” said Khymm Flanders with Odyssey House.

Flanders, former meth addict for 26 years, sober for 14, is now an executive assistant at the Odyssey House. She says the lethal drug is alive and well here in Utah.

“Nobody actively uses fentanyl on a daily basis and lives to tell the tale for very long. It’s killing people. It’s killing addicts on the block and everywhere, people who don’t realize it’s there,” said Flanders.

“Fentanyl is many many times stronger than heroin. It can be 100x stronger than heroin,” said Dr. Haleston Intermountain Healthcare’s Chief Medical Officer.

Hasleton says it used to be prescribed but it’s mainly found illegally. The problem, not only is it extremely potent but people on the street don’t know it’s being mixed with other drugs.

“They’re cutting heroin with it. People aren’t realizing that’s what they’re getting and they’re dying from it,” said Flanders. 

“We know it affects our community significantly. We are keeping our eye out in Utah and how best to manage it here locally,” said Haleston. 
 
The Utah Health Department says in 2018 prescription drugs were still the leading cause of overdose deaths, with oxycodone 3 times the number of cases over fentanyl and says meth is making a comeback. 

Recent drug busts in Salt Lake and across the country have turned up not only heroin and meth but also fentanyl.

Doug Thomas, Director of Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Services says treatment centers are aware of the problem.

“It’s something we need to continue to be concerned about and watch we know it’s one of the key factors in overdose deaths. We need to pay attention so we don’t lose members of our community.”