Overview

Fentanyl is a synthetic narcotic analgesic used in combination with other drugs to treat extreme pain.

1. What are the street names?

   China Girl, Dance Fever, Friend, Jackpot, Tango and Cash, TNT

2. What does this drug look like?

   Duragesic® is a transdermal patch and Actiq® is a solid formulation of citrate on a stick that dissolves slowly in the mouth. Fentora® is a effervescent fentanyl formulation. Wildnil® is an analogue of fentanyl with an analgesic potency 10,000 times that of morphine and is used in veterinary practice to immobilize certain large animals. To date, over 12 different analogues of fentanyl have been produced clandestinely and identified in the U.S. drug traffic seizures.

3. How is this drug abused?

   Fentanyls are most commonly abused by intravenous administration, but they may also be smoked or snorted.

4. How does this drug affect the mind?

   Fentanyl use produces eurphoria, tolerance and dependence. The biological effects of fentanyls are indistinguishable from those of heroin, with the exception that the fentanyls may be hundreds of time more potent. Deaths from overdose have occurred from fentanyl use because this drug is sometimes sold as heroin.

5. How does this drug affect the body?

   Physical symptoms include headache, dizzy feelings, breathing complications, nausea or vomiting, constipation, and irregular heartbeat.

6. What drugs cause similar effects?

   Opium, Codeine, Heroin, Methadone, Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Morphine

7. What are the overdose effects?

   Signs of fentanyl overdose include trouble breathing or shallow breathing; tiredness, extreme sleepiness or sedation; inability to think, talk or walk normally; feeling faint, dizziness, confusion; and possible death.

8. What is the legal status in the United States?

   Fentanyl is a schedule II Narcotic, meaning it has high potential for abuse and limited medical usage.

9. What are the common places of origin?

   First synthesized in Belgium in the late 50s, fentanyl was introduced into medical practice in the 1960s as an intravenous anesthetic. Thereafter, two other fentanyl analogues were introduced for use in heart surgery. Fentanyl products are manufactured in the United States.