What is Fentanyl? National Institute on Drug Abuse NIDA

Like other opioid use disorders, fentanyl addiction is a treatable chronic medical condition. A person who uses fentanyl may be diagnosed with opioid use disorder if they have two of the diagnostic criteria for opioid use disorder listed in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition. Repeated fentanyl use can lead to dependence, which means that the person’s body gets used to the presence of the drug.

• This rise may be linked to their use of counterfeit medicines for anxiety and ADHD that had fentanyl mixed in.
• When used as prescribed, it is also very effective in treating cancer pain or other types of severe chronic pain that don’t respond to other pain medicines.1,2,3 Read more about opioids on the NIDA website.
• Repeated fentanyl use can lead to dependence, which means that the person’s body gets used to the presence of the drug.

Treatment options include medications for opioid use disorder and behavioral therapy. They may need to take a larger dose or take it more Fentanyl Withdrawal Causes often to achieve the same effects.29,30 It can also lead to tolerance, which means that the person’s body responds less and less to the drug.

U.S. Overdose Deaths Involving Any Opioid by Sex, 1999-2023

When used as prescribed, it is also very effective in treating cancer pain or other types of severe chronic pain that don’t respond to other pain medicines.1,2,3 Read more about opioids on the NIDA website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. For more recent provisional data, please see Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts from NCHS.

U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths Involving Antidepressants, 1999-2023

They can check for fentanyl in different kinds of drugs and pills. Fentanyl is much more potent than other opioids like morphine or heroin. Like other opioids, fentanyl can ease pain and make a person feel happy and relaxed. Opioids are a class of drugs that include both prescription medicines such as morphine and illegal drugs like heroin. NCHS systems receive and analyze data from death certificates, including cause-of-death information reported by state and local medical examiners and coroners. Since 2016, the number of deaths has trended down with 3,984 reported deaths in 2023.

What is Fentanyl?

In many cases, fentanyl is one of these drugs.24,25 When fentanyl is mixed with other drugs, either on purpose or unknowingly, the combination can have more serious health effects. This webpage is regularly updated to display the most recent final drug overdose death data published annually by NCHS. From 2019 to 2023, cocaine-involved deaths rose 85% to 29,449 deaths. As with other opioids, fentanyl use during pregnancy can harm the health of both the mother and her baby.37 However, some research has suggested that in certain cases, people who overdose from fentanyl or a related drug may need a second standard-strength dose or a dose of high-strength naloxone (Kloxxado®).27 In many cases, people do not know that their drugs are tainted with fentanyl.14 Unless drugs are tested, it is impossible to tell if they have been mixed with fentanyl.15

NIH-funded intervention did not impact opioid-related overdose death rates over evaluation period

They are only able to feel normal when they take the drug. Certain signs may mean that a person is having an overdose and needs immediate medical attention. Teens may not know the medicines could contain fentanyl and might not realize the pills are dangerous.26

You cannot tell if another drug or pill contains fentanyl by looking, tasting, or smelling it. Fentanyl may be a hidden ingredient in other illegal drugs. Even a small dose of fentanyl can cause a fatal overdose. When a person takes a higher fentanyl dose than their body can handle (an overdose), their breathing can slow to a life-threatening level.8 See “What is an overdose? Fentanyl can have negative health effects, even when taken as prescribed. Illegally made fentanyl is now a main driver of the overdose and addiction crisis in the United States.4

U.S. Overdose Deaths by Sex, 1999-2023

In 2023, there were 10,870 drug overdose deaths involving benzodiazepines. Drug overdose deaths involving heroin rose from 3,036 in 2010 to 15,469 in 2016. Deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone (primarily illicitly manufactured fentanyl or IMF) decreased from 73,838 overdose deaths reported in 2022, to 72,776 in 2023.

Similar data related to nonfatal drug overdoses are reported through CDC’s Drug Overdose Surveillance and Epidemiology (DOSE) system. Any opioid includes prescription opioids (natural and semi-synthetic opioids and methadone), heroin, opium, and other synthetic opioids other than methadone (primarily IMF) and other unspecified narcotics. For example, they may use fentanyl more or for longer than intended, experience a strong desire to use fentanyl (craving), and continue to use it even when knowing that it causes problems.31 To learn more, see “Are opioids addictive? Fentanyl, like other opioids, is addictive, especially when not used as prescribed by a health professional.

Overdose deaths declined to 105,007 in 2023. Babies exposed to fentanyl before birth have a higher risk of various health problems and may experience withdrawal symptoms after birth, such as irritability, crying, tremors, or poor feeding.38 Some people have concerns about becoming addicted to medications for opioid use disorder.

Treating fentanyl addiction

• They may be available through state and local health departments, syringe services programs, or drug stores and online retailers.
• Treatment options include medications for opioid use disorder and behavioral therapy.
• IMF involvement in overdose deaths that also involved prescription opioid drugs steadily increased from 2014 through 2021 becoming the main driver of deaths involving prescription opioids.
• It can also lead to tolerance, which means that the person’s body responds less and less to the drug.
• They are only able to feel normal when they take the drug.

Fentanyl causes changes in brain activity that can eventually motivate people to continue using it even when they experience harmful effects.28 Because fentanyl is so powerful, people can quickly lose control over their fentanyl use. They may be available through state and local health departments, syringe services programs, or drug stores and online retailers. The only way to check if a drug or pill contains fentanyl is by using fentanyl test strips.20

This rise may be linked to their use of counterfeit medicines for anxiety and ADHD that had fentanyl mixed in. It is often mixed with heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, or the veterinary tranquilizer xylazine (“tranq”). Some counterfeit pills contain fentanyl.

As little as 2 mg of fentanyl—the amount of a few grains of salt—can be fatal.9 These effects may include confusion, drowsiness, nausea, visual disturbances, constipation, muscle stiffness, and many others. An official website of the United States government

Is fentanyl addictive?

NIDA does not fund or assist in the collection of these data but does analyze NCHS data to create the figures and descriptions on this page. Medications for treating fentanyl addiction are safe and effective for pregnant women. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of opioid use disorder. Medications are the standard treatment for fentanyl addiction.32,33 Several medications have been approved by the U.S.

IMF involvement in overdose deaths that also involved prescription opioid drugs steadily increased from 2014 through 2021 becoming the main driver of deaths involving prescription opioids. See the impact of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids on drug overdose deaths. Drug overdose deaths involving prescription opioids rose from 3,442 in 1999 to 17,029 in 2017. Timely data related to unintentional and undetermined intent drug overdose deaths by participating jurisdiction is also available from the CDC’s State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS). Because drug overdose deaths often require lengthy investigations, data are updated as new information is received.

Overdose Deaths Involving Stimulants (Cocaine or Psychostimulants with Abuse Potential), 1999-2023

Overall, drug overdose deaths rose from 2019 to 2022 with 107,941 drug overdose deaths reported in 2022. Although fentanyl is more powerful than other opioid drugs, standard-strength naloxone (e.g., Narcan®, RiVive®) still works to reverse the drug’s effects in most people who overdose from fentanyl. Drug overdose deaths involving cocaine rose steadily from 6,784 in 2015 to 15,883 in 2019.

Drug overdose deaths involving psychostimulants with abuse potential rose from 5,716 in 2015 to 34,855 deaths in 2023. Overdose deaths involving fentanyl among adolescents have risen in recent years, even though teens don’t report taking more illegal drugs. Fentanyl can also cause serious health problems and even death from overdose.7 Like other opioids, fentanyl affects the parts of the brain that control breathing. Drug overdose deaths rose from 12,122 in 2015 to 59,725 in 2023.