Preventing Substance Misuse
Preventing Overdose
What is an overdose?
An overdose is the intentional or unintentional consumption of a substance in quantities greater than are recommended that cause a critical reaction in the body. Read more about the Suspenders4Hope® Preventing Substance Misuse overdose information below and explore resources.
It has been highly publicized that we have lost many people to overdose. While there are a variety of substances that have contributed to this increase, the synthetic opioid fentanyl is the primary driver of overdose deaths in the United States.
What is Fentanyl?
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid. It is a major contributor to fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the United States. Fentanyl is difficult to detect and can be deadly even in small doses.
- Fentanyl is up to fifty times stronger than heroin and up to a hundred times stronger than morphine.
- It is often added to other drugs because of its extreme potency, which makes drugs cheaper, more powerful, more addictive, and more dangerous.
- There are two types of fentanyl: pharmaceutical fentanyl and illicitly manufactured fentanyl.
- Pharmaceutical fentanyl is prescribed by doctors to treat severe pain, especially after surgery and for advanced-staged cancer.
- Illicitly manufactured fentanyl is distributed through illegal drug markets and makes up most recent cases of fentanyl-related overdose.
- Substances may be laced with fentanyl and it can be impossible to tell without fentanyl test strips.
Harm Reduction Techniques
There are several methods that can be used to reduce the risk of overdose or other harms associated with substance misuse. Even if you do not use substances, techniques such as medication disposal, medlocks, and fentanyl test strips can increase the net safety of your community.
Medication disposal allows for safe and judgement free disposal of many different types of drugs and substances.
To find a disposal site near you, follow the link below.
Medication locks can act as a prevention method against unintentional use of medications and medication theft.
