Fentanyl Addiction and Abuse on the Rise in New Jersey

The death of musician and singer Prince earlier this year sent shockwaves throughout the country and resulted in a lot of news stories about the risks of prescription drug abuse. That’s because Prince’s tragic death was found to be a result of a prescription opioid overdose.

Prince died due to use of fentanyl, an extremely powerful prescription painkiller that poses significant health risks. In fact, fentanyl is reportedly 50 times more powerful than a drug like heroin.

Fentanyl used to be available only to end stage cancer patients and other people with severe chronic pain. However, the prescription opioid has become easier to come by in recent years as more and more doctors are prescribing the opioid to patients who suffer from chronic pain or who are recovering from surgery. Additionally, fentanyl can now be obtained on the black market as drug trafficking networks ship the painkiller into the US from China and Mexico.

Fentanyl Overdose Deaths in New Jersey

Use of prescription opioids is at an all-time high in New Jersey, according to data compiled by the NJ Medical Examiner’s Office. As a result of the increased use of dangerous painkillers like fentanyl, prescription drug overdose deaths are also on the rise. In the first six months of 2015, which is the most recent period for which statistics are available, 150 NJ residents died due to fentanyl overdoses. This figure represented a larger total number of fentanyl overdose deaths than there were in all of 2014. To put this in perspective: fentanyl overdose deaths in New Jersey had already tripled from 2013 to 2014.

These shocking numbers led Carl J. Kotowski, the special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) office in Newark NJ, to bluntly declare that fentanyl is more deadly than heroin. According to Kotowski, abuse of fentanyl does not provide the user with a chance for a “do-over.” With fentanyl, said Kotowski, “a very small amount can be fatal.”

For more information about this case, view the following article: Deaths from the drug that killed Prince are skyrocketing in N.J.