Societal Effects

Ultra-potent opioids have had a detrimental effect on society as a whole. Spanning worldwide, these drugs pose a huge threat to populations where they have integrated their way into society. Having had a massive ripple effect on drug use and management, ultra-potent opioids have made a lasting impact on how officials and users alike handle street drugs. Although there have been many negative effects seen by these drugs from increased hospitalizations to greater mortality, people have worked together to make their own lasting impact to reduce the harmful effects ultra-potent opioids have had over later years.

Deaths Worldwide

Opioids have always been prevalent throughout the world, morphine for example has been used in medicine for pain prevention as well as fentanyl. These opioids have been strictly monitored in terms of use and dosage as continued use can lead to drug dependence and in some cases death. Overall, 500,000 deaths each year are due to drug overdoses, 70% of which are directly caused by opioids. According to results from 2017, The World Health Organization (WHO) recognized a total of 115,000 deaths caused by opioids worldwide. These results show only the total amount of deaths worldwide as overdoses, which don’t result in fatalities, are much more common. The amount of deaths has increased in recent years due to the increased prevalence of opioids on the street and use in medicinal facilities also reaching an all-time high. The biggest impact has been when ultra-potent opioids were introduced.

Ultra-potent opioids are characterized as a much stronger analog of other opioids. For example, synthetic carfentanil is 10,000 times stronger than morphine, and 100 times stronger than fentanyl. Ultra potent opioids started to gain the most awareness in 2015 when the United States of America called for a national alert and crisis on ultra-potent opioids, which still resulted in the number of deaths due to these drugs to double from 2015-2016. In total, deaths in the United States of America due to fentanyl and synthetic analogs rose by 120% from 2010-2018. This compelled Canada to do the same shortly after as British Columbia, the center of opioid use in the country, saw an increase in ultra-potent opioid abundance in street drugs as well as urine tests. By 2018, opioids and ultra-potent opioids alone created 85% of British Columbian illicit overdoses. Ultra-potent opioids have had a detrimental impact on the population and the way countries have handled drugs as a whole.

Canadian Statistics from January-March 2021

The government of Canada updated its website to include current statistics on ultra-potent opioids nationwide:

• Ultra Potent Opioids
  • 90% of deaths were due to accidental opioid toxicity opioids involving a fentanyl or fentanyl analogue
  • 45% of hospitilizations were due to stimulant toxicity due to either fentanyl or fentanyl analogues
• Who is Affected
  • Highest number of deaths was seen in males, with an age range seen amongst females and males being 20-49 year old users.
  • Factors that are linked to the increase of opioid use and overdose are feelings of isolation, high accessability to other users, higher amount of carfentanil in street drug supply and people living with high stress and anxiety.
• Highest Affected Areas
  • Highest mortality amongst users in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. These three provinces makee up 90% of Canada’s opioid related deaths.
• Affect of COVID-19
  • An 88% increase has been seen in opioid related deaths since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the same timeframe in 2020
  • COVID-19 has increased stress, anxiety and feelings of isolation in Canada’s population as a whole, potentially contributing to the worsened statistics

Most Recent Threat

In May 2021, Toronto saw the worst surge in opioid-related deaths since 2017. In total, 13 individuals died of exposure to an ultra-potent opioid under the name of Etonitazene. An opioid first created in the 1950s, this drug is known to be at least 10 times more potent than fentanyl and resurfaced only recently in May of 2021. This being such a recent case shows how prevalent these drugs are in society today, and the impact it still holds. Positive change has been happening in the form of increased awareness and specialized departments dedicated to ultra-potent opioids, but it is important to know that these drugs are still very much a problem.

Societal Change

In order to regulate the increase in drug-related mortality, a change occurred amongst all levels of society to fight back against the increased prevalence of ultra-potent opioids plaguing the nation. Increased awareness was made for carfentanyl in the news to spread information about this drug. Details such as where this drug could be found, statistics, and its potency were relayed throughout Canada to inform citizens.

Toronto in particular has more safe injection sites and drug checking facilities. Safe injection sites have multiplied across the country in later years to give users a safe place to use street drugs in case they contain illicit ultra-potent opioids. A study conducted in 2014 demonstrated the effect that safe injection sites had on overdoses and deaths due to street drugs. Overall there was seen to be a significant decrease in overdoses and deaths as there are first responders on-site and users are supplied with clean needles. Drug checking facilities have also increased in prevalence in Toronto, allowing users to submit drugs and drug paraphernalia in order to test for illicit ultra-potent opioids that are unnoticeable when mixed in with other drugs. Carfentanyl and fentanyl are often added to street drugs in order to boost potency, and this has been avoided due to drug checking facilities.

https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2021/07/26/new-ultra-potent-opioids-hitting-toronto-streets-in-recent-weeks-as-overdose-deaths-mount.html

Another way that overdoses and other ill-effects of ultra-potent opioids have been avoided is due to individuals who are making their own impact. Tamara Grant, a citizen of Toronto, runs a safe injection site out of her own home. The 51-year-old helps users find a safe place to use drugs in her own living room. She has never had anyone die on her watch and has reversed approximately 60 overdoses and is a prime example of someone who has taken up the fight against opioids and is making a lasting impact on society.

Overall it is apparent how opioids have had a lasting impact on society. The increase in mortality caught the eye of individuals and the government as a whole, eliciting both change and awareness in everyone. Although there have been tragic negative effects of these drugs on society since their creation, it inspires hope to see action and real change be brought to society in order to fight back against ultra-potent opioids.