1/ Have you seen this video circulating that allegedly shows a @SDSheriff deputy ODing on fentanyl? There has been lots of push back, with experts claiming that this whole video is a lie. These claims are correct. The video is a lie. I'll explain how. cbs8.com/article/news/l…
2/ Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is many times stronger than heroin. It is pervasive in our illicit drug supply and is the leading cause of opioid overdose in the country. Fentanyl kills tens of thousands of people every year. 
3/ Fentanyl is also an extremely well researched and commonly used medication. It's been used as part of general anesthesia for decades. Anyone who has had an appendix removed has been given fentanyl in the OR. We understand fentanyl very well. theconversation.com/fentanyl-widel…
4/ Among the many things we know about fentanyl is that it is near impossible to absorb through the skin. Rx fentanyl patches do exist--to administer fentanyl transdermally--but this took YEARS of research and development to accomplish. mayoclinic.org/drugs-suppleme…
5/ In 2017, the DEA released a training video for officers that told them they were at risk of ODing from incidental fentanyl exposure in the field--from doing things like brushing powder off of their clothes. justice.gov/opa/video/roll…
6/ They refer to no medical literature or expertise. The only sources they cite in making this very, VERY serious claim are these 2 dudes from Ohio who claim it happened to them.
7/ Mind you, I have no reason to suspect that these men were lying about their experiences. If they said they felt like they were dying, I believe them. Panic attacks are SCARY and EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE at convincing you that death is imminent. They 100% were not ODing though.
8/ How am I so confident? Following the DEA video, the American College of Medical Toxicologists and the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology put out a joint position statement asserting that this kind of OD from incidental skin exposure is impossible. acmt.net/_Library/Posit…
9/ They write: "If bilateral palmar surfaces were covered with fentanyl patches, it would take approximately 14 minutes to receive 100 mcg of fentanyl [using a body surface area of 17,000 cm2 , palm surface area of 0.5% [26], and fentanyl absorption of 2.5 mcg/cm2 /h [24]."
9/ In lay terms, that means if officers licked their palms and put fentanyl patches clinically designed for transdermal absorption of fentanyl on both hands, it would take them at least 15 minutes to even start experiencing pain relief, let alone feeling high, let alone ODing.
10/ But that's not all. In 2019, a profile in the Journal of EMS refers to this myth as “hysteria” and calls out PPE manufacturers who seek to profit off of this myth by unethically marketing expensive “Fentanyl-proof PPE,” which is not a real thing. jems.com/operations/fen…
11/ This JEMS piece also notes, “There have been reported incidents of overdose patients not being provided appropriate medical care; hazardous materials response teams are being activated erroneously; or criminal charges being leveled against individuals based upon the belief...
12/ ... that their actions endangered responders. This must stop.” In other words, this absolutely false charge that officers can OD from fentanyl exposure in the field is prompting officers to delay administering narcan to ODing civilians. This myth IS deadly--for us, not them.
13/ A 2020 review of all known reports (>200) of officer OD in the field found that NONE "reported a plausible route of exposure, clinical manifestations consistent with exposure, and laboratory testing that confirmed exposure.” link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s…
14/ In other words, NOT ONE SINGLE ALLEGED INCIDENT OF OFFICER OVERDOSE FROM FENTANYL HAS BEEN MEDICALLY CONFIRMED. EVER. Even though there are literally hundreds of these reports floating around in media, there is zero scientific confirmation that any are real.
15/ As for the video by @SDSheriff, it's unfortunate that it not only perpetuates this terrible lie (Let's be real, it's cruel and toxic to encourage officers to believe that they are in mortal danger when they are not), it also shows these officers to be very poorly trained.
16/ If you watch the body cam footage, you will see an officer administer naloxone AFTER the allegedly injured deputy says something out loud. The deputy is talking. Talking means EFFECTIVE BREATHING. That means he is not overdosing. recoveryanswers.org/media/how-to-i…
17/ Possibly these officers were truly panicking. Officers HAVE BEEN TOLD that this is real. If so, that's awful and I am so sad and sorry they had this terrible experience. But that doesn't change the fact that Officer 1 wasn't overdosing and Officer 2 misidentified overdose.
18/ In response to clear evidence from medical and toxicological research that this kind of overdose is next to impossible, law enforcement agencies in Canada have retracted guidance suggesting that OD risk is real. cbc.ca/news/politics/…
19/ So why are US law enforcement agencies so COMMITTED to this false narrative? Well, it's complicated. My belief is that this has a lot to do with how law enforcement positions itself as an authority over illicit drugs.
20/ US law enf posits drug markets as a complex and technical problem that police/DEA/etc are uniquely trained and technologically equipped to solve. bja.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/…
21/ <shameless self promotion> I talk about this a lot in my new paper in Contemporary Drug Problems journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00… </shameless self promotion>
22/ For the paywalled, you can also find it here: drive.google.com/file/d/1PFbAR2…
23/ Regardless, the kicker is that, in spite of the expertise that law enf. claims to have, the work of law enf. isn't ending overdose. Deaths are rising exponentially under their watch. cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr…
And, clearly, they have some wrong ideas about how drugs work.
And, clearly, they have some wrong ideas about how drugs work.
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