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Fentanyl (China White, Apache, Lollipop, King Ivory, etc.)

Fentanyl (China White, Apache, Lollipop, King Ivory, etc.)

New Jersey Drug Fentanyl Possession and Distribution Defense Attorneys

Prescription Drug Facts About Fentanyl

Street names:  China White, Apache, China Town, King Ivory, perc-a-pop

Brand name:  Sublimaze (in liquid form); Duragesic (transdermal patch); Actiq (lollipop), Fentora (tablets)

Drug Classification:  Fentanyl is a Schedule II substance under the Controlled Substances Act, and most analogues of Fentanyl are Schedule I substances (they have no recognized medical usage).

General Drug Information

Fentanyl is a semi-synthetic opiate known for its high potency and quick onset of effects. It is about 100 times as powerful as morphine and is thus administered in very small amounts (micrograms) for use as a painkiller in palliative care or to treat pain after surgery. Fentanyl is now the most widely used opiod in clinical medicine, in part due to large variety in how the drug can be taken – when administered orally it acts through the mucosal surfaces in the mouth, however when used as a patch it is absorbed into fat cells which release the drug slowly over and extended period of time.

Effects and Side Effects

Fentanyl produces effects similar to morphine (euphoria, pain relief, decrease in anxiety), and with comparatively fewer itching and nausea symptoms. Common side effects include nausea, constipation, drowsiness, dry mouth, dizziness, sweating, and fatigue. Because Fentanyl is so potent at such low doses, the risk of overdose is great.

Patients using transdermal patches must pay attention to increases in body temperature, as small differences in sweat around the area of the patch may release more of the drug than was intended, causing an overdose. Given such incredible potency, it is difficult to dilute Fentanyl effectively, and street concoctions containing this drug are often much stronger than sellers had intended.

Fentanyl Overdose and Addiction

Overdose symptoms include extreme drowsiness and sedation, with patients most at risk from injury or death from respiratory depression (hypoventilation.) Fentanyl is physically addictive and abruptly ending use may cause withdrawal with common symptoms of nausea, diarrhea, chills and fevers, aches and pains in muscles and bones, cramps, and insomnia. These are characteristic of most opiates and their withdrawal symptoms.

Dangers of Fentanyl Abuse

Illegal use of Fentanyl is very dangerous because its high potency increases the risk of overdose and its short duration of effects increase addiction risks. Fentanyl also produces more sedating and less euphoric effects than heroin, increasing the risk of respiratory depression even from smaller doses. While medically, Fentanyl is either taken orally or used with patches, illicit use of Fentanyl may result in the drug being smoked, snorted, or injected with unpredictable results. The gel contents of patches are often ingested, even if the patch has been used more multiple days by a patient.

Deaths

Heroin and cocaine laced with Fentanyl have been responsible for hundreds of deaths across the US, with an increase in use among youths in suburban populations. Clandestine laboratories illegally producing Fentanyl have also been found across the United States, with some labs producing analogues of the drug that are even more potent and dangerous.

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