Exploring Synthetic Heroin: Accounts of Acetyl Fentanyl Use From a Sample of Dually Diagnosed Drug Offenders

• In Event: The Opioid Epidemic: Patterns of Use and Overdoses

Abstract

Acetyl fentanyl, a fentanyl analogue emerging onto the recreational drug scene, has been responsible for numerous recent fatal overdoses in the US, Europe and Russia. Studies reporting acetyl fentanyl use are presently limited to case studies and mortality reports. This study explores the nature of acetyl fentanyl use through the collection of first-hand qualitative data from users to inform public health and drug control policy responses. Participants were 102 individuals in one of two US Bureau of Justice Assistance Second Chance Act substance use treatment initiatives. Acetyl fentanyl users were generally unaware that they had administered the substance until after use (initially believing that they were administering heroin). They described the effects of acetyl fentanyl as stronger and qualitatively different from heroin. These individuals showed no interest in using acetyl fentanyl again describing it as unpleasant and more risky, both because of potency and the threat of a ‘bad batch’. Acetyl fentanyl is reaching heroin users, some of which administer it unknowingly. Regulation of acetyl fentanyl is recommended in all countries as is increasing public awareness that the substance is distinct from and being sold as heroin.

Authors

• John Stogner, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

• J. Mitchell Miller, University of North Florida

• Bryan Lee Miller, Georgia Southern University