Fentanyl is an illegal drug that is similar to heroin. However, it’s incredibly strong. For instance, many people would consider heroin to be one of the strongest drugs on the market, but fentanyl can be 100 times stronger.
This has led to a spike of overdose deaths in the United States. Someone could get a fatal dose of fentanyl without taking very much at all. It is illegal to produce, distribute or sell fentanyl. However, there could be people who are doing this without even realizing what’s happening.
Other drugs contain fentanyl
The problem is that many other popular street drugs now contain fentanyl. In some cases, this is because people are buying pill presses and making their own pills. In other cases, it’s because fentanyl is being processed in the same facility as the other drugs and is accidentally being mixed in.
But no matter how it gets there, the result is that fentanyl has been found in crack cocaine, MDMA, methamphetamines, powdered cocaine, counterfeit painkillers, counterfeit Xanax and much more. In some cases, it has even been sold as if it was heroin.
This means that someone may think that they are just using “safer” drugs. They may believe that they are just taking one Xanax pill, for instance, and that it should be safe. But they could overdose and die if that pill actually contains a lethal dose of fentanyl.
Are you facing drug charges?
This has created a very complex situation where people are being accused of selling fentanyl, and even providing fatal doses, and these arrests can have very serious ramifications. But the drug market has gotten quite complex. Those who have been arrested and who are facing such accusations need to know about their legal defense options.