A Deadly Dose: Fentanyl IN THE African American Overdoses
Community
From 2020 reports, there were about 430 overdose deaths from fentanyl in Cuyahoga County, according to Medical Examiner Thomas Gilson. Of those, 117 were African American .
D uring the 1990s, the increasing se- verity of the prescription drug cri- sis did not primarily affect African Americans. “That may have been, in large part, because of the healthcare disparity or doctors’ approach to treating pain among Black people,” Gilson said. “But it was clear African Americans did not have the same issue with the epidemic as white suburban areas.” However, during that time and through to- day, crack cocaine has been the consistent drug of choice for users within the Black community. “It wasn’t until cocaine and fentanyl were wedded that we started see- ing the explosion of overdose deaths among African Americans from these drugs.”
was responsible for seven overdose deaths that year. In 2015, there were 25 deaths. By the end of 2017, that number had in- creased by four times. “We really started seeing fentanyl being added more in the African American community in 2016, and that was devastating.” When looking at the potency of opiates, ex- perts use morphine as the bas line for com- parison. Heroin has about four times the potency of morphine. Fentanyl, however, has 40 times the potency of heroin and 80 times the potency of morphine. Fentanyl was first introduced in the 1960s as an anesthetic or pain medication. Its use scaled as other pain medications also emerged onto the market. However, in 2015, the illicit drug market began using fentanyl and manufacturing
A potent narcotic, the use of fentanyl first spread in the Black community in 2014 and
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