An experiment helps heroin users test their street drugs for fentanyl
Fentanyl has become a big part of the local drug supply in the Bronx
NPR (US)
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Fentanyl
is a synthetic opioid that is "similar to morphine but can be 50 to 100 times more potent," according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Increasingly, drug dealers have been using fentanyl to cut their heroin supply — which can be lethal for users. By using the same simple test a doctor would use to check for fentanyl in a patient's urine, Van Asher, one of the staffers in charge of "transactions" — that means he gives out needles — is now giving drug users in the Bronx a way to quickly find out what's in their syringe before they inject.
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