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Your friend comes over to your house with a bag of chips for your nightly hangout. They pass you the bag before offhandedly saying, “Oh by the way, there’s a small chance there’s a random chip in there that’s poisoned.”
Would you still eat the chips?
This is the situation many people who seek out substances like cocaine encounter, except they don’t have someone who warns them of the potential for fentanyl to be present. Cocaine laced with fentanyl is more serious and prevalent than many realize.
Fentanyl has been on the rise here in Oregon. From 2021 to 2023 the amount of counterfeit fentanyl pills seizures in Oregon increased from 1.3 million to over 3.4 million. The same increase was seen in powder-form fentanyl from less than 1 kilogram seized in 2021 to over 175 kilograms in 2023.
Here at Serenity Lane, we’ve noticed how these changing trends have been impacting our community. With the high risk of death associated with unknowingly ingesting opioids, we wanted to highlight this topic to bring more awareness to how it happens, and why.
When fentanyl is found inside another substance, it doesn’t end up there by accident. It’s never from an unintentional cross-contamination. Why would someone do this, though?
Fentanyl is a very potent opioid commonly used in medical settings for people needing extreme pain management, such as cancer patients. This may make you think this type of drug on an illegal market would be worth more, but that’s not the case.
Fentanyl is, in fact, very cheap to produce, unlike cocaine. This makes it a prime candidate for lacing because it increases profits for those selling it.
Lacing isn’t unique to fentanyl or cocaine. Lacing is when one substance is added to another to influence the product's profit while either maintaining its effects or altering them. This altering can be as simple as boosting the effects already given by the base substance or adding new effects into the mix.
Fentanyl is one of the most common substances to be added to other substances. In 2022 over 65% of overdose deaths in Oregon were linked to illicitly manufactured fentanyl. More often than not, these overdoses occur because someone unknowingly encountered fentanyl as opposed to seeking it out intentionally.
If you’re unaware, fentanyl comes in two primary forms: a pill or a powder. In both instances, these substances are overwhelmingly white in color, with a small chance of them being off-white, or colored intentionally like in the case of rainbow fentanyl.
When fentanyl is added to cocaine, it won’t be dyed. Cocaine is also a primarily white or off-white substance found in powder form or a rock-like form. Because of this, fentanyl isn’t able to be visibly spotted when it’s present.
There isn’t another, safe way to locate fentanyl in cocaine. Not only does it have no discernable smell or taste, but using these methods would involve you potentially consuming the substance which isn’t recommended.
This doesn’t mean you can’t figure out if a substance is laced with fentanyl, you just can’t do it without the help of tools like fentanyl test strips.
Through the use of fentanyl test strips, you can test for fentanyl in any substance you have.
Fentanyl test strips are legal in Oregon, meaning you can easily obtain them through online retailers, like Amazon, and have them shipped directly to your house.
While these strips can be helpful, it’s important to note that they’re not perfect. When cocaine is laced with fentanyl, the substance won’t be evenly distributed amongst the substance. This means you could test a portion of some cocaine that is fentanyl free, but test another portion of the same cocaine and find fentanyl within it.
Fentanyl is a highly potent substance. It’s over 50 times more potent than morphine. This means it takes very little fentanyl in order to experience the effects, and also very little to reach the threshold of an overdose.
If you take cocaine at your regular dosage without realizing fentanyl is within it, you’re at a very high risk of overdosing. This is not only because of the potency we just talked about, but because polysubstance use, or the use of two or more substances, also increases your overdose risks. Opioid overdoses have a high fatality rate if not reacted to promptly so it’s always dangerous to engage with cocaine that has any potential to be laced with fentanyl.
Cocaine is a type of stimulant, whereas fentanyl is a type of opioid. Opioids are similar to depressants, meaning they slow down the processes in the body. Stimulants like cocaine do the opposite, causing systems within the body to speed up.
When both are present in your body, they commonly cancel each other out. This can give the false impression that you’re not as impacted by them being in your system as you actually are. Just because you’re experiencing no symptoms or minimal symptoms, doesn’t mean the drugs aren’t in your system.
If you’re able to spot the signs of a fentanyl overdose, then you’ll be able to react properly. Even if you’re not 100% certain that a fentanyl overdose is occurring, the symptoms listed below are still unsafe.
Do not hesitate to call for medical help if you spot these signs. The Good Samaritan Law prevents you and the person experiencing the overdose from being prosecuted for seeking help for a drug-related medical emergency. Comply with anything they say and honestly answer any questions they ask so they’re able to provide accurate medical assistance.
The only surefire way to avoid encountering cocaine laced with fentanyl is through recovery. There are many quality programs available here in Oregon that offer a full continuum of care and ongoing support for your whole journey. Here are some good tips for finding rehab for cocaine that will suit your needs.
Keep in mind if you’d like a facility that offers on-site lodging, also known as an inpatient program, or if you’d like to be able to stay home during your recovery. Many programs offer both, with a common path for recovery starting in inpatient and transitioning to outpatient, afterward.
You should also keep in mind if a program offers a strong alumni group. Peer support groups are powerful tools for any recovery journey.
If you’re looking for a facility that understands recovery, Serenity Lane is here for you. We’re one of the oldest non-profit rehabs in the state, strictly dedicated to you and helping you reach your healing goals. Give us a call today at 800-543-9905 to learn more.
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