What Is Fentanyl?
Fentanyl is a human-made opioid used to treat severe pain. It’s 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. The drug interacts with receptors in your brain to create feelings of pain relief, relaxation, contentment, and pleasure.
While it’s safe for your doctor to give you fentanyl in a medical setting, some people abuse it, which can lead to an overdose.
Where does fentanyl come from?
Fentanyl is in a class of drugs called opioids. Opioids come from the opium poppy plant. While some opioids come directly from the plant, fentanyl is made in a lab by scientists using the same chemical structure.
People sell illegal fentanyl as a powder, dropped onto blotter paper, put in eye droppers and nasal sprays, or as pills that look like other prescription opioids.
Fentanyl can also be “diverted.” That’s when the drug is prescribed by a doctor but isn’t used as directed or is sold or given to someone else.