Fentanyl is a strong opioid that is 50 times stronger than heroin. It is partially responsible for the current overdose crisis in the US. Prescription fentanyl may be a tablet, spray, or patch. On the street, fentanyl may look like a white, tan or gray powder and may be mixed in with other drugs like heroin, meth, cocaine, or pressed pills.
Anyone can overdose on fentanyl, especially if they don’t know it is in the drugs they ingest. You can’t overdose from touching fentanyl, it must be ingested to cause an overdose.
Signs of a fentanyl overdose include slow or no breathing, blue or ashy lips or fingertips, and pinpoint pupils.
You can use any small container (little ketchup cups work well). Whatever container you use, only use about a half (1/2) a shot glass of water (15mL). If you are testing a stimulant (like meth, cocaine, or MDMA) use a full shot glass of water instead.
About the size of a match head or half a grain of rice.
1
Put the powder in the glass of water and swirl it until it is completely dissolved. If you want to test something that isn’t a powder, crush it first.
2
Hold the solid blue end of the test strip and dip the other end in the water. Keep the water below the blue line.
3
Hold the strip in the water for about ten seconds. You will know it’s ready because the water will be sucked up into the white part of the strip.
Take the strip out of the water and wait sixty (60) seconds.
5
Use a bright light to look at the strip and count how many red lines there are. Even very light red lines count!
6
Make sure you check the strip within ten minutes of doing the test. Throw the strip away when you are done.
Fentanyl overdoses can be reversed using naloxone, including Narcan Nasal Spray. A person overdosing on opioids may need more than one dose of naloxone and more time for it to work (2-3 minutes).
Order Naloxone Kits
