Warning: This article contains discussion of drug addiction which some readers may find distressing.
A frightening video reveals exactly what fentanyl actually does to your body after it has been injected.
The simulated clip was posted to YouTube by the channel Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell, which described fentanyl as the ‘dumbest drug to ruin your life for’.
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The video explains: “Fentanyl is around 50 times more potent than heroin but this doesn’t mean 50 times more amazing, quite the opposite.
“Fentanyl is extremely good at crossing the blood-brain barrier, the firewall that protects your brain from harmful substances.
“It enters your brain so easily that you get from zero to extremely high almost instantly but just as fast as it enters, it leaves again.
“A Heroin high can last six hours, one from fentanyl can fade in minutes.”
It continues: “Because fentanyl acts so quickly on your brain, it fries your reward center even more, making it even more addictive than heroin.
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“And since you only need so little of it, it's super easy to overdose and die by accident. It is the deadliest illegal drug in US history by far.”
The video goes on to detail that between 2013 and 2023, the drug was the cause of death for a whopping 400,000 people in the US.
A lot of people who take fentanyl have reported to not have taken it willingly, instead it has been laced into other drugs they have bought.
The video adds: “Dealers want people to come back for their product and by adding a tiny trace of fentanyl to any drug, they can make it more addictive.
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“Even if people don’t realize they took an opioid, they'll feel its effects, so dealers started to mix all kinds of drugs with fentanyl, turning the entire US drug market into a minefield, where any trip can be your last.”
Many viewers took to the YouTube comment section to share their reactions to the video, with one user writing: “I got laced with a very small amount of fentanyl a few years ago. We didn’t know it was laced until after the event. But I can tell you the most terrifying thing about it was that it DIDN’T feel good. I am not joking when I say it felt like dying.
“Breathing manually, heart rate insanely slow, no sense of time or space or even self. The odd thing was I was so glad when it wore off….but I somehow craved the same feeling more than anything. Absolutely horrible drug.”
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And another added: “‘You will never feel this good again’ hits so hard. That was the most powerful, honest and comprehensive argument I've ever heard on why hard drugs are a bad idea.”