There’s a reason why the conversation over America’s drug crisis, more often than not, comes down to fentanyl these days. This potent drug, said to be 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, is a synthetic opioid that was developed for use as an anesthetic and painkiller. But this drug is cheap to make illegally, and illicit fentanyl, which is completely unregulated, has flooded the drug market. Often, the people who make drugs like cocaine, meth, or other opioids will add fentanyl as a cheap way of boosting the high – but users don’t know fentanyl is in the drug, and even a tiny amount can lead to a fatal overdose. One of the many ways illegal fentanyl is sold these days is as blue fentanyl pills, which aren’t regulated in their manufacturing. Even if someone intentionally takes fentanyl, they have no way of knowing if the pill they’re about to take might contain a potentially fatal dose.
According to the FBI’s Law Enforcement Bulletin, more than 107,000 people died of drug poisoning or overdose in the United States in 2021. About 66% of those deaths were caused by synthetic opioids like fentanyl. When abused, fentanyl can make users feel relaxed, euphoric, sedated, and free of pain. But it can also easily cause drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and slowed breathing. Its extreme potency makes it, unfortunately, very easy for users to overdose and die from this drug. It’s also highly addictive, and that’s why it’s so important to get help from an inpatient fentanyl addiction treatment center if you or a loved one is hooked on fentanyl.
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Are All Fentanyl Pills Blue?
Fentanyl itself is a white crystal or powder, but it can be taken in many different ways, including injections, skin patches, sprays, or lozenges. Most often, illicit fentanyl will come in the form of a tablet or pill. This includes blue fentanyl pills, which are sometimes made to look like they’re prescription oxycodone pills but really aren’t.
However, fentanyl pills can be made in many different colors and shapes. In recent years, so-called “rainbow fentanyl” started to spread across the country. Some pills can be off-white or yellow. Still, blue fentanyl pills have become so common on the street that they’ve gained multiple nicknames, including the “Blues.”
What Do Fentanyl Pills Look Like?
Before we explain what fentanyl pills look like, let’s discuss the many side effects of fentanyl:
- Upset stomach
- Weight loss
- Weakness or fatigue
- Dizziness
- Slowed heart and breathing rates
- Anxiety or depression
- Hallucinations
- Unusual thoughts or dreams
As previously stated, fentanyl itself is a white crystal or powder, but it can look very different when it’s manufactured into a pill form. Colorful “rainbow fentanyl” was first found in the U.S. in 2022 and has spread to dozens of states since then. Fentanyl pills can also be made to look light yellow, off-white, or blue. Another problem with identifying if something has fentanyl is that drug makers will often make their pills resemble a prescription opioid or another medicine, meaning you can’t tell by looks alone if a pill has fentanyl or not.
How Much Does Fentanyl Cost Per Pill?
One of the reasons why fentanyl is seemingly everywhere on the illicit drug market is because it is quite cheap compared to other drugs. Newspaper reports in recent years have sounded the alarm as the price dropped to dangerous lows across the country. In early 2024, a narcotics investigator told a TV station that buying fentanyl on the street now cost just $1 or $2 per pill in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. In parts of Washington, illicit fentanyl pills were as cheap as just 50 cents per pill. The price of fentanyl was markedly lower in San Francisco than in other major cities as well.
In July 2024, a Reuters investigative article looked into the illicit fentanyl trade by purchasing the chemicals and accessories needed to make millions of pills. The total cost of these online purchases was just $3,600, pointing to just how cheap this drug can be to make illegally and without any supervision or safety oversight. Because of this unregulated process and the extreme potency of the drug, an overdose of fentanyl has become an all too common consequence of its use.
How Long Does Fentanyl Show Up on a Drug Test?
Whether it’s ingested as blue fentanyl pills, injected in a hospital setting for pain or anesthesia, or consumed in some other form, fentanyl has a relatively short half-life, meaning it won’t show up on a drug test for long. A 1993 study published in the Anesthesia & Analgesia journal sought to determine if metabolites of fentanyl could be a way of detecting and monitoring substance abuse. The study looked for fentanyl and two of its metabolites in the urine and saliva of seven women who had received small doses of the substance, with testing continuing for 96 hours after the drug was administered.
Fentanyl was detectable in the urine of all patients immediately after surgery but only in three of the seven patients 24 hours later. At just 72 hours after administration, fentanyl was no longer detectable. One of the metabolites for fentanyl registered at a higher level than fentanyl right after surgery and could be detected in all patients after two days and in four of the seven patients after four days. The study suggested that saliva testing wasn’t a good alternative for testing for fentanyl, but even when conducting a urine test of fentanyl and its metabolites, the patients were undetectable after just a matter of days.
Don’t Risk the Dangers of Blue Fentanyl Pills – Get Help From Muse Treatment
The ongoing opioid crisis in America shows no signs of stopping, and frequently, fentanyl is a part of this tragedy. This cheap, widely available drug is often found in many other drugs that were laced for a cheap way to boost the high, and users have no way of knowing if the substance they use might contain fentanyl or what the dosage is. Because of this, many people have died of unintentional fentanyl overdoses, and many others have become hooked on this powerful drug. The best way to avoid the dangers of blue fentanyl pills is to get help immediately if you or a loved one is addicted. In Los Angeles, Muse Treatment’s comprehensive range of addiction treatment programs includes options to detox and break a dependence on fentanyl and other opioids. Our expert team can help you safely and effectively break the chains of addiction and leave fentanyl behind once and for all. Learn more about what we can do to help by calling us at 800-426-1818 today.
External Sources
- FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin – The Fatal “Blues”
- U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration – Fentanyl
- National Library of Medicine – An Analysis of the Duration of Fentanyl and Its Metabolites in Urine and Saliva
The post What Are the Effects of Blue Fentanyl Pills? appeared first on Muse Treatment.
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