Opioids are highly addictive narcotic substances that include prescription drugs for pain and street drugs including heroin. Fentanyl is both a prescribed substance as well as an illegal street drug.
Prescription Drugs are prescribed by a doctor to provide relief from chronic pain and must be used with extreme caution. These drugs include: morphine, fentanyl, oxycodone, Vicodin, codeine, and tramadol.
Heroin is an illegal and highly addictive opioid drug and most heroin users claim their use began after the use of a prescribed narcotic.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid most often prescribed to treat severe pain related to advanced cancer and is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Fentanyl is a prescription drug but there is fentanyl being made illegally and sold on the streets. Most fentanyl overdose deaths are linked to illegally made product.
For more information:
- www.AvoidOpioidSD.com
- South Dakota Opioid Resource Hotline 1-800-920-4343
- SAMHSA – OTP Directory (SAMHSA.gov)
- Naloxone for Opioid Overdose: Life-Saving Science | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) (NIH.gov)