Recent reports suggest that there is fentanyl in the cocaine going around New York, particularly in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, and that multiple people have overdosed.
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid prescribed by doctors to cure severe pain. The substance is also commonly pressed into cocaine, heroin, counterfeit pharmaceuticals and other drugs. According to the Center for Disease Control, fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than its cousin morphine. Depending on a person’s body size, tolerance and past usage, only two milligrams of the drug can be lethal.
The most effective way to treat overdoses caused by fentanyl and other opioids is by injecting Naloxone, more commonly known as Narcan, into the bloodstream.
There are several pharmacies and community centers around Bushwick and all of New York that have Narcan readily available.
Pharmacies in Bushwick with overdose rescue kits include Walgreens at 755 Broadway and Walgreens at 1111 Pennsylvania Ave. A full list of pharmacies with the kits throughout the city is available here.
There are also several New York City Opioid Overdose Prevention Programs (OOPPs) that dispense Narcan to the general public. A full list is available here. According to the list, the only OOPP in Bushwick is La Nueva Esperanza at 213 Johnson Avenue. However, there are others in nearby neighborhoods.
Narcan can also be ordered online for free on nextdistro.org.
Many of the pharmacies and OOPPs listed in the links above also have fentanyl testing strips available. These strips can also be ordered online at dancesafe.org.
However, it is important to note that testing strips are not always 100 percent effective.
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