Genoa. The arrival of the is starting to be really scary also in Italy and therefore also in Liguria fentanyl. In the United States, in the last year, 70% of deaths per overdose was caused by this substance, the so-called “zombie drug”.
In the last few days the molecule of fentanyl was detected in Perugia after a heroin addict reported to doctors that he had experienced strange symptoms after a dose: the substance was analyzed in a laboratory and in addition to heroin, codeine and diazepam, 5% fentanyl was detected in the mix.
“The risk of spread is real – he said the regional health councilor of the Liguria Region, Angelo Gratarola during the weekly press point in the Trasparenza room, confirmed despite the legal storm linked to the maxi-investigation – the drug prevention department of the Ministry of Health worked on a contrast plane which I received at the state-regions conference.
So it was the information procedure with the alert to the Addiction Departments was also activated in Liguriato the managers of the Therapeutic Communities and the Street Mobile Units.
“Fentanyl – continues Gratarola – is a synthetic morphine widely used in anesthesia, the diffusion in Italy at the moment is still low but in the United States the situation is dramatic, why is it so dangerous? Used as a heroin cutting drug, if it is injected, given the fact that it is highly fat-soluble it is able to act in three or four minutes”.
“Therefore – underlines the councilor – the risk is to have some dramatic side effects including the death from respiratory depressionthen the duration of action is not very long, between 30 and 60 minutes, at least in the first doses, but this is why the patient wakes up and goes back to sleep, with this lolling behavior, like a zombie, as seen in the many images that come from America”.
Sonia Salvini, ASL3 and Alisa contact person for Addiction warns: “Drugs are easily found on the dark web and compared to other ‘goods’ they take much less time to spread, which is why it is important not to be caught unprepared.”
