Fentanyl use on the rise in New Mexico

Opioid overdose deaths are on the rise across the country. Now health officials are seeing that same trend with synthetic opioids like fentanyl. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number has skyrocketed from 1,663 deaths in 2011 to 18,335 in 2016. 

“Fentanyl is about 30 to 50 times stronger than heroin and 80 times stronger than morphine,” said Dr. Christian Shaw.

Shaw is the clinical director at the rehab center Duke City Recovery Toolbox. He’s seen an increase of patients testing positive for the synthetic opioid.

“Since January this year, we’ve noticed an 85% increase in fentanyl positive drug screenings across the board when we test our patients monthly,” he said.

That’s more than 40 patients. He says last year the highest number was 24. Dr. Shaw says some users may not even know the heroin they’re using may contain it.

“So the real concern is someone uses what they think is their normal dose of heroin but now with fentanyl they could without even knowing why, overdose and die,” he said.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 75 people died from fentanyl use in New Mexico in 2017. Those are the latest numbers available.

While that number is on the rise in our state, it still accounts for less than half of deaths from prescription drugs and heroin.