How Did Fentanyl Become A Street Drug?

Illicitly-sold versions of deadly fentanyl first hit American streets in 2007. The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) eventually tracked those sales down to a particular lab in Mexico — which was since successfully closed — but CNN reveals that much of the fentanyl that ends up in the hands of US drug dealers originates in China, reaching the US via Mexico or sometimes even in the mail after being bought on the "dark web". Indeed, the drug is nicknamed "China girl" and "China white" on the streets. 

After the 2007 crackdown, fentanyl seizures went down for a while, but they have recently been on the rise again in 10 states. To drug dealers, fentanyl, which is sold as very pharmaceutical-looking pills on the street, is nothing short of a gold mine: drug dealers, the DEA says, purchase a kilo of fentanyl for around $3,300, but are able to sell it for 300 times that price. 

To users, however, the drug is much more than highly addictive. Even the very smallest dose can send a user into respiratory arrest or coma within mere minutes. First-time users whose bodies are not already dependent on opioids are especially likely to suffer fatal consequences. Frighteningly, CNN reports that fentanyl-related deaths have shot up in recent years, particularly in Ohio, Florida, and Maryland. The DEA notes that four fentanyl-related deaths were reported in New Hampshire over a two-month period, 80 in six months in New Jersey, and 200 in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania over the course of 15 months.

'Fentanyl Is Everywhere Now'

"Everywhere from the Northeast corridor, down to New York, the Midwest and now we're seeing it here out on the West Coast. Fentanyl is everywhere right now," DEA special agent John Martin, from San Fransisco, told CNN. He added: "Just micrograms can make a difference between life and death. It's that serious. All you have to do is touch it. It can be absorbed through the skin and the eyes."

The DEA reports that, since fentanyl can be absorbed through the skin and eyes, effectively forcing its passive use on anyone who comes into contact with the drug, it is extremely hazardous for law enforcement officers to seize the drug. Only a level A hazmat suit, the same kind used to protect healthcare workers from ebola contamination, is good enough, something that does a wonderful job illustrating just what kind of danger those who may, sometimes unknowingly, be buying fentanyl as a "recreational drug" are facing.

California State Senator Patricia Bates, who represents South Orange County, is now trying to push through a bill that would punish high-volume sellers of the drug much more harshly. She told CNN: "We're talking about ... catching the big guys, because when you take them out of the food chain, you really do reduce the incidents of the trafficking and what's available on the streets."

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