Collapsed and on the verge of death. This is how a 47-year-old man was found in an American hotel room after consuming fentanyl. Without relevant medical history, inhalation has caused encephalitis, that is, an inflammation of the brain. A consequence that had not been recorded until this case, unlike others related to the consumption of inhaled heroin.

“Each route of administration has its own risks. In the case of the inhaled route, it involves a very rapid absorption of the substance. They produce sedation, and when this sedation is significant, the respiratory centers are also depressed and the risk of an overdose appears. “says Claudio Vidal, psychologist of the intervention program Energy Control.

According to a medical report, the remains of fentanyl found in the victim’s room were of illicit origin. This is like drugand not like drug. “It is marketed in pre-established doses and with a very specific administration schedule, while in drug markets the person is never sure what they are going to consume,” adds Vidal.

With an effect 100 times more powerful than morphine, United States National Institute of Health alert: this synthetic opiate It has become the drug that causes the most overdose deaths in the country.