Have you undergone major surgery? Mastectomy, Craniotomy, knee replaced, hysterectomy, lung, open heart ? Want to know what they all have in common other then general anesthesia? Almost no post- op pain medications. Due to the opioid epidemic, there are government controls on physicians prescribing more than a few days of narcotics post-op. All for a good reason now. We learn that addiction can occur in just three days of narcotics use.
Last Monday was International day against drug abuse. After awhile the words “fentanyl crisis” do not phase us. We used to think meth, cocaine, drugs were for those experimenting and drug pushers got people addicted to keep their money flowing.
No more. There is a new, not even hidden, agenda and it is shocking. It is the deliberate attempt to kill our American children with fentanyl. We can no longer worry about grandma needing a percocet after her hip replacement; this is life threatening.
As a physician I was confused. I realize drug dealers get people hooked to keep their clients coming, but what is the issue with making fentanyl candies to entice kids and kill them in one dose? Then I learned something so disturbing. It’s that the fentanyl- laced substances are meant not to addict. They are meant to kill deliberately. It is so horrific I can hardly write this, but I am driven so that you can protect your loved ones. Everyone is at risk, not just those drug seeking.
You’ve heard the recommendation that we should track fentanyl deaths as we did covid because it is a pandemic. It is not because people have suddenly decided to become drug users. It’s much much more insidious and evil. First the drug is massively more potent now. The amount to kill is the size of a grain of salt. They can easily target anyone. Even college kids trying out a more benign “party pill” will drop. Tyrone was upset I would not prescribe any more hydrocodone and admitted he just bought it on the street. Now we learn that Mexico and China are lacing many of these street drugs with fentanyl.
So the crisis is very very different now. It is not to make people addicted in order to increase sales. The horrible use of gummies is now outright murder of our children. Even baby wipes are involved. Dear Lord. We are at war and we must face this. It is ubiquitous and the number one cause of death age 18-45. We must pay strict attention.
We also must refuse to be victimized by this evil. Watch your kids like hawks. What’s the sense in treating cancer, living healthy and longer if our young ones are deliberately being hunted? Please do all that you can to raise awareness in your own homes. Nothing goes into a mouth, no drink you didn’t pour is safe, no candy you didn’t buy yourself, fun at parties requires vigilance. Only take prescription drugs, never off the street and give strict caution to your young adults. Our enemies are finding ways to not start a war but to still kill Americans in records numbers- they have said it and they are actually doing it under our noses.
Read and raise you own awareness*. Be hyper- vigilant, educate your families, there is no such thing as a safe drug -ever. This deadly poison is continuously being unleashed and the degree of destruction unconscionable.
I’d love to now say- “go have a Happy Labor Day weekend…”, but if this hard -to- hear message saves one child, one baby, one college or high school teen, then it is because you made a difference and it was worth it. Thank you.
*For more information : DEA head: “Mexican cartels using Fetanyl to kill Americans in record numbers”. (federalobserver.com)
“China is killing Americans Deliberately” (gatestoneinstitute.org)
“DEA warns of fentanyl related ‘mass-overdose’ across America” (Sfchronicle.com)