There is also a hunt for illegal Fentanyl in Naples: the ASL launches an investigation

It is a substance 50 times more powerful than heroin. An observation program began on approximately 600-700 people

ROME – It will soon be possible to know if illegal Fentanyl is present in the markets of the province of Naples and if there are consumers of it. In fact, as Dire learned, an observation program began on Monday 27 May on approximately 600-700 people, subjects addicted to opiates and users of the Pathological Addictions department of the ASL Napoli 2 Nord, directed by Vincenzo Lamartora. “Every day – explains Lamartora – opiate abusers are subjected to urine analysis, which will allow us to detect any positivity to Fentanyl”. This first testing phase will last 15 days, until June 10th. The same procedure will be carried out one month, six months and one year later, for continuous monitoring.

YOU CAN’T TALK ABOUT AN EMERGENCY YET

At the moment, in Italy we cannot yet talk about a Fentanyl emergency, which is instead a reality in the United States, where it causes over 70 thousand deaths a year and represents the main cause of overdose deaths. Primary market for numerous transnational drug trafficking organizations, the USA is literally flooded with Fentanyl: in 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration seized over 6 tons of powder and 59.6 million tablets strong> counterfeit products containing the substance. And Europe is not immune. In 2021, European Union member states reported 137 deaths associated with Fentanyl, none in Italy. In our country, however, attention is high and the Ministry of Health has raised the alert to level 3, activating a national prevention plan which provides for the sending of the alert to the police forces and all the competent administrations so that it is strengthened. the territorial monitoring network.

THE CASE OF PERUGIA

It happened after the presence of Fentanyl used as a cutting substance was found in a dose of heroin seized in Perugia in April. It was the first time it had been ascertained in Italy. “Do cases like that of Perugia exist in Campania? At the moment we don’t know, but – replies Lamartora – for the municipalities belonging to the ASL Napoli 2 Nord we will be able to say after June 10, at the end of the first observation phase.” If no analysis indicates positivity “it will mean that Fentanyl is not yet consumed in a significant and detectable way in the territory of our local health authority”. What if, instead, the outcome was positive? “Our observation – underlines the director of the Pathological Addictions department of the ASL Napoli 2 Nord – aims precisely to verify the penetration in the territory. The majority of opioid abusers buy drugs ‘on site’, i.e. in the very places where they are consumed, i.e. within a radius of a few tens of kilometres, if the tests carried out in a year and a half do not test positive for Fentanyl, we could say that the substance did not arrive. in these areas significantly. Or, perhaps, we might think that local crime is more interested in selling other products, such as cocaine or crack”. In fact, when talking about drugs, it is legitimate to also ask how much the interests of criminal organizations influence consumption. “We can give an example.In Cerignola, in the province of Foggia, where there is a historic drug dealing square, for decades heroin abuse was of little importancebecause the crime only brought in cocaine. With heroin you can be treated with methadone, while, as there is no specific drug, you remain dependent on cocaine.” Therefore, “if in two years we discover that in Basilicata there is Fentanyl, in Puglia, in Lazio and or in Umbria there is Fentanyl, and in Campania not, we will be able to assume that there is a specific interest of crime in not letting it arrive. Otherwise, Fentanyl will also be there in Campania”.

THE DANGERS OF FENTANYL

Attention is high because Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid with effects similar to morphine and used for analgesic and anesthetic purposes, if used illegally, produced clandestinely and distributed through drug markets, becomes a very dangerous substance, 50 times more potent than heroin. But there’s more. Being a synthetic opiate, made in a laboratory, it costs little. “About 10 euros per dose, instead of 100 euros for pure heroin. In short – confirms Lamartora – Fentanyl is easy to purchase: if you have 10 euros in your pocket you can buy a dose. And everyone has 10 euros in their pockets, even teenagers, who spend less without knowing that they are purchasing a dose 50 times more powerful than heroin, for example, until the day before a person has taken a gram of heroin, should consume a fiftieth of a gram of it. Fentanyl. But abusers do not make these algebraic equivalences, and therefore, they risk dying of an overdose.”

RISKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

The risk is very high for the young population, “especially – says Lamartora – that of accidental death. While adults are more habitual in their consumption, young people are more inclined to experiment, and risk a ‘overdose, without being absolutely aware of it.” Added to this data is the fact that one of the main ‘dealing places’ for Fentanyl is the web, mostly used by young and very young people. In short, Fentanyl kills, but if it does not cause a death “it generates addiction very very quickly – underlines Lamartora – and is a substance that creates profound mental confusion, can cause hallucinations and delusions. A user of Fentanyl swings on his own legs , keeping his eyes closed, his head down, he seems asleep, he looks like a street lamp swinging in the wind. That’s why it’s called the zombie drug: in the United States there are entire sidewalks full of people lolling around like zombies.”< /p>