i'm going deep inside the fentanyl
pipeline
to see exactly how it's fueling the most
devastating drug epidemic
in u.s history yeah
fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 to 100
times stronger than morphine
making it the most potent narcotic in
clinical use
i'm hoping really really hoping this guy
knows what he's doing here
the drug acts on natural opioid
receptors or
pleasure centers in the brain our bodies
opioid receptors are found in the same
parts of the brain that control
emotions and physical pain the drug
takes over these receptors
relieving pain and creating a state of
euphoria
but abusing these receptors are
dangerous and
even deadly opioid abuse can lead to
respiratory depression
or slow and shallow breathing which can
be fatal
the chief is in there trying to revive
this patient there was a woman on the
floor
it was an overdose she was overdosing
fentanyl was first created in belgium in
1960 by dr paul jansen
jansen was the founder of jansen
pharmaceutical which is now owned by
johnson johnson
fentanyl like most opioids was made with
the purpose of helping patients relieve
the most severe forms of pain
from patients in surgery to patients
battling cancer
in hospital settings the drug became
revolutionary for pain management
during the early to mid 1960s heart
surgery was new
and previous types of anesthesia were
causing cardiac arrest during surgery
researchers found that fentanyl had
minimal effects on the heart
and replaced morphine for cardiac
anesthesiologists by the 1980s
fentanyl was also faster acting more
potent inexpensive to create
and could be administered in a multitude
of different ways
over time prescription opioids became
more popular
us pharmaceutical companies began
marketing other opioids
and assuring patients that the addiction
risk was low
less than one percent of patients taking
opioids
actually become addicted but that wasn't
the case
patients got addicted and the us was now
dealing with an opioid epidemic
approximate cause for the prescription
opioid epidemic in our state
are companies who marketed
fraudulently the addictive qualities of
the drug
over two decades in many cases
knowing that there was a high
probability that patients will become
addicted
when overdoses began to rise doctors
made these drugs more difficult to
obtain
but those already addicted turn to black
market versions of these opioids
like heroin by the 2010s fentanyl was
one of the deadliest drugs of abuse in
the united states
and in 2015 fentanyl trafficked via
mexico emerged on the u.s black market
in a big way in recent years
200 people die per day from drug
overdoses in the united states
the most recent cases of
fentanyl-related harm overdose and death
in the united states
are linked to illegally made fentanyl
and it remains one of the most difficult
drugs to stop
it's wiping out a generation
[Music]
you