Officials warn against fentanyl-tipped grass – the myth that refuses to die

Yesterday, the Washington State Department of Health raised the alarm in a press release about a fentanyl overdose – and immediately began to blame pharmacies for theoretically adding the deadly drug to cannabis. But journalists and researchers are wondering whether these so-called fentanyl-infused weed overdoses even exist or whether the sources of this information have any real value.

“Fentanyl-related overdoses are increasing across the state,” officials wrote. “Now state health officials are demanding that people wear naloxone if they plan to consume drugs that were not bought from a drugstore or cannabis dispensary, or if they have friends and family who do.”

Buzzfeed called the fentanyl-infused cannabis myth “the toughest urban legend of the US overdose crisis,” and it’s hard to tell when the myth is routinely upheld by state and federal officials and constantly shared by law enforcement. Seasoned cannabis users are baffled why someone would mix weed with a hard-to-get, deadly drug that is more expensive per gram than cannabis. The officers didn’t stop there, however.

“Suppose any substance that you do not buy from a pharmacy or cannabis dispensary contains fentanyl.”

The publication showed that preliminary data shows 418 overdose deaths in the first three months of 2021, compared to 378 overdose deaths in the first three months of 2020. Of the 418 overdose deaths in 2021, 46 percent (191 ) of these fentanyl-related deaths. Many of these deaths tragically affected people under the age of 30 – with their entire lives ahead of them. It proves that people taking fentanyl and other opioids should keep naloxone close by.

Just last month, Georgia officials warned of a fentanyl overdose – and tried again to blame marijuana. “At this point, ALL recreational narcotics, including marijuana, should be considered a serious threat to life safety,” the Camden County Emergency Management Agency wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday. Police departments in Kingsland and St. Mary’s, two neighboring cities, issued similar warnings.

Fentanyl itself is amazingly effective at stopping breathing in individuals: “Two milligrams of fentanyl can be fatal depending on a person’s height, tolerance and previous use,” says the DEA, but the organization also says that “no deaths from marijuana overdose” been reported. ”Even the DEA admits it.

But are there verified cases of fentanyl-laced weed? Or is it just another reason for inappropriate hysteria – like the “Great Vape Scare” or the annual warnings about so-called people who hand out food on Halloween?

Are people just making up stories about fentanyl-tipped weed?

Filter magazine journalist and medic Claire Zagorski, MSc, LP criticized sensational journalism – including a questionable Washington Post article – about fentanyl-tipped marijuana. Kellyanne Conway, the former White House opioid crisis empress, was one of the myth’s greatest spreaders. “People unwittingly pick it up,” said Conway. “It is being put into heroin, marijuana, meth, cocaine, and is only being distributed by itself.”

So where did the myth about fentanyl-adorned weed begin?

The myth of fentanyl-fortified weed took off in 2017 when coroner Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco of Hamilton County, Ohio, said in a press conference, “We saw fentanyl mixed with cocaine, we also saw fentanyl mixed with marijuana.”

But after further scrutiny in a Vice post, Sammarco had to admit that she had seen no evidence of fentanyl-infused cannabis, just parroted what her co-host, U.S. Senator Rob Portman, had told her. And that was said without reliable sources. Further coverage in the Cincinnati Inquirer found no solid evidence of fentanyl-infused cannabis – just wild speculation, and it cited multiple sources, including various coroners and a DEA spokesman.

Most likely, fentanyl-laced weed stories are more fiction than fact, and there is little, if any, evidence to back up stories. In most cases, police authorities suspect various ways that fentanyl could be camouflaged and distributed.