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Fentanyl Is A Growing Danger In North Carolina

North Carolina Senate Bill 321, passed late last month, amended the North Carolina Controlled Substances Act to make possession of fentanyl or use of Fentanyl a Class I felony. The governor signed the bill in hopes that it would prevent more overdose deaths. Whether or not it will deter fentanyl use is not known. However, the drug is a growing problem in North Carolina and the world. If you or somebody you love is caught with fentanyl, there are now going to be harsher punishments, even if it’s true that they’re unaware of it.

Laws like this don’t prevent addiction, but politicians seem to think they may cause a person to seek recovery.

Fentanyl Is Being Added to Many Drugs

Fentanyl is now being found as an additive to almost any illicit drug sold online or on the street. Anecdotally, police say they’ve seen it in nearly every type of pill that’s being counterfeited, from Percocet and Codeine to Xanax.

During the pandemic, opioid-related overdoses have climbed. Fentanyl, a drug fifty to one hundred times as strong as Morphine, is often the cause of overdose deaths. In addition, it’s been found as an additive in many drugs, including counterfeit Oxycontin pills or heroin.

More recently, fentanyl made headlines in California. Several comedians thought they were using regular cocaine, but fentanyl was added to it. Because they were not chronic opioid users, they all suffered an overdose. Only one comedienne was revived successfully, and she was left recovering in the hospital for about a week.

Fentanyl Addiction Is Becoming More Prevalent

According to the Centers for Disease Control, reported overdose deaths rose 38 percent in North Carolina from February 2020 to February 2021. Unfortunately, those numbers may be underestimated; the pandemic has left some people uncounted.

Fentanyl, as an additive to drugs or as a drug of abuse on its own, is deadly. For people who use the drug, addiction takes over quickly. However, fentanyl is an incredibly potent drug. It’s used most often in surgery than any other medical use. When people become addicted to fentanyl, they build a tolerance. However, the body can’t tolerate a high level of the drug, even if a person is addicted. As a result, it’s easy for fentanyl to lead to an overdose death.

People with opioid use disorder come from all walks of life. Addiction is a disorder of the brain and the body, but recovery is possible. The first step is asking for help.

Getting Help for Opioid Use Disorder

If you or somebody you love has an addiction to fentanyl or an opioid use disorder, help is available. Medication-Assisted Treatment is considered the “gold standard” for treating it.

Learn more about Medication-Assisted Treatment and how we can help you begin to reclaim your life by calling us at 910-295-7246.

If you are in need of help, please call us at: 910-295-7246 or message us.

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