The fentanyl users They can barely stand. On the streets of Philadelphia, United States, entire groups of addicts lie motionless on the ground, unable to control their movements or impulses. The harsh reality of fentanyl spreads like wildfire across the United States. To understand the current crisis, with 100,000 overdose deaths, we have to go back to the late 90s, when painkillers arrived without control or prescription in supermarkets and medicine cabinets.

This is how Claudio Vidal, director of Energy Control, tells it, explaining that “there was a pharmaceutical capitalism “With Oxicontyn, a demand for opioids was created that once it began to be restricted, the demand was already created and there was a significant substitution of these painkillers for heroin,” Vidal added.

Since then, tens of thousands of people have become addicted. And given the withdrawal of painkillers from stores, they began to look for them illegally on the street. This is the case of Megan Defranco, a former addict, who in statements to the ‘Voice of America’ has assured that, “unfortunately, you are already addicted at that point and you can’t live without them“.

Came to replace heroin

Fentanyl came to replace heroin, but it has narcotic effects 50 times greater. A cheap, synthetic drug manufactured by Mexican cartels. The pioneer was Chapo Guzmán. Now a dose is around $20. A kilogram of fentanyl costs 1,000 dollars, but on the black market it can give profits of up to a million and a half dollars.

In SpainAt the moment, there are no records of illegal consumption. Claudio Vidal has stated that since his “analysis services and work in the field have not detected fentanyl.” In recent years, law enforcement agencies have seized only 336 grams. Of which, 291 corresponded to a single interception.

The Spanish health system, both public and private, maintains a strong control of this substance, restricted to hospital settings to oncological diseases and major trauma.