by Chiara Fabrizi
The Higher Institute of Health has confirmed: in that dose of heroin bought in Perugia and delivered by a user to the Serd street unit there is indeed Fentanyl.
Fentanyl confirmed in heroin in Perugia The appearance on the retail market of the very powerful opioid, which is causing a real crisis in the suburbs of large US cities, was enough for Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano to activate the national prevention plan against the improper use of Fentanyl, which provides sending the alert to all police forces and all administrations.
National alert rises to level 3 At the same time, a note signed by the director of prevention Francesco Vaia was sent to the Regions by the Ministry of Health to signal the raising of the alert for Fentanyl in Italy to level 3 after the identification of street heroin in Perugia. In particular, the ministry asks the health departments of the regions and autonomous provinces to urgently issue information to the SerDs, therapeutic communities and social-healthcare personnel so that they «inform people who use substances of the very serious health risks ».
The dose, delivery and analysis The sachet of heroin with 5 percent Fentanyl was delivered to the operators of the Serd street unit, managed by Borgorete, by a heroin user who, in the context of one of the interviews focused on the subject’s health conditions, reportedly reported of a very heavy state of malaise resulting from heroin consumption. Hence the request from the staff of the Perugia Street Unit to be able to analyze the substance, which was first subjected to some reagents for a rapid check and then delivered to the Forensic Medicine, Forensic Sciences and Sports Medicine analysis laboratory of the University of Perugia. When the confirmation from the university experts arrived, the ISS and, finally, the Ministry of Health and Undersecretary Mantovano also took action.
