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Cops say touching fentanyl is making them sick. Doctors say it's impossible

WedgeX

WedgeX

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,785
The stories are scary and illustrate just how dangerous police work can be: Cops across the nation, including Michigan, overdosing from accidentally touching fentanyl while searching cars during traffic stops or rendering first aid.
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"If you could absorb drugs by touching them, why would people bother to inject them?'' said Dr. Andrew Stolbach, a medical toxicologist and emergency physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He also is an expert on the subject of fentanyl exposure.

"Drugs like fentanyl and analogs of fentanyl aren't absorbed through the skin very well at all," Stolbach said. "So brief, incidental contact isn't going to cause somebody to absorb a therapeutic dose, let alone a toxic dose."
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"Fentanyl patches require putting fentanyl into special liquid vehicles so it can be absorbed through skin, and then sealing them against the skin for 72 hours at a time," Marino said. "The patches took decades and millions of dollars to develop and are still incredibly slow and inefficient."
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On top of that, experts said overdosing from unintentionally inhaling fentanyl is difficult because the opioid doesn't become airborne naturally. For that to happen, someone would have to scatter it into the air. Or, as Marino said, "You would have to be in some sort of wind tunnel with massive amounts of fentanyl.
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So what's causing the symptoms? Well, fear is a helluva drug.

"It is impossible to overdose from accidentally touching fentanyl. The odds are zero," said Marino. "The police are now getting sick — actually sick — because of bad information, though they are not overdosing. But bad information is ... taking a serious toll."

He and other experts believe the reaction of police is being fueled by panic.

"The vast majority of emergency responders that are around fentanyl and fentanyl analogs are experiencing no symptoms at all," said Stolbach. "But for the few that have symptoms ... anxiety associated with being concerned with being exposed probably accounts for many of these symptoms."
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/health/2019/04/29/touching-fentanyl-hysteria/3566951002/

TV shows have certainly helped spread this myth - Longmire, specifically - and journalists not factchecking the police have allowed this to become accepted as "fact."
 
TheJackdog

TheJackdog

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Oct 27, 2017
1,644
possibly stupid question, but, how the hell arent the emergency responders trained to know this?
 
NinjaScooter

NinjaScooter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
56,184
You mean cops are full of shit? Shock. Probably trying to get workers comp or something so they can retire and cash out that pension.
 
Primus

Primus

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Oct 25, 2017
4,169
Wow, it's sad that over thousands of years of recorded history we haven't invented, I don't know, some sort of material that would cover our hands so that we could handle possibly dangerous things in a safe manner.

Nope, such an item couldn't possibly exist in police work.
 
Ronin0510

Ronin0510

Member
Oct 27, 2017
528
My first thought was that these cops are intentionally taking it and then saying it's from "contact" high. However that's just me being cynical!
 
The Albatross

The Albatross

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
40,344
Placebo affect is a real thing. If bad information convinces people that there's fentanyl in their water supply, people will actually get real symptoms and get actually sick, despite that there's no fentanyl in the water. 'Mass' hysteria (or in this case, like... micro-hysteria) exists, people convince themselves things are real that aren't, and their brain responds in a similar way.

Information is a helluva drug.

You pretty much just have to tell these people "You can't get contact high from fentanyl," and they won't develop any symptoms.
 
Awesome Kev

Awesome Kev

Banned
Jan 10, 2018
1,670
I'm pretty pro drug legalization (not all out legalization but at least down for having a serious discussion about making it happen, with rules, exceptions, etc)

But... dude, just reading/hearing that word now Is kind of scary. I hope the people who use it know what they're doing and don't OD, but still from what I've heard it's one drug that I wouldn't mind being wiped from the face of the earth. Known a couple people from high school that died using it. Y'all be careful with your drugs is all I'm sayin.
 
dragonchild

dragonchild

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,270
NinjaScooter said:
You mean cops are full of shit? Shock. Probably trying to get workers comp or something so they can retire and cash out that pension.
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Seductivpancakes said:
Wouldn't be the first time cops lied or feared for their lives.
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American cops are about as trustworthy as a creepy guy with a sign saying TODAY'S SPECIAL OFFER! But seriously, watch the video. There is such a thing as a nocebo effect and it's powerful enough that it can cause real physiological symptoms.

That they're complaining of fentanyl overdose symptoms has a perfectly rational medical explanation. The real takeaway is that cops are neither reliable nor objective sources of testimony even when they're being honest because they have the same susceptibility to bias and misinformation as the rest of the general population. (Which is to say, anyone in court relying on eyewitness testimony for exoneration is fucked.)
 
Bremsstrahlung

Bremsstrahlung

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,427
On top of that, experts said overdosing from unintentionally inhaling fentanyl is difficult because the opioid doesn't become airborne naturally. For that to happen, someone would have to scatter it into the air. Or, as Marino said, "You would have to be in some sort of wind tunnel with massive amounts of fentanyl.
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Yea they're snorting it
 
Dali

Dali

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,184
The stories are scary and illustrate just how dangerous police work can be: Cops across the nation, including Michigan, overdosing from accidentally touching fentanyl while searching cars during traffic stops or rendering first aid
But they don't really illustrate shit since they are based on a fabrication. Maybe a well placed "attempt" as in "... attempt to illistrate..." would be more accurate. Even if the following paragraph points out the stories are lies, the wording here is just wrong.
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DJ_Lae

DJ_Lae

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,143
Edmonton
I remember reading about it a while ago, I think there was a paper put out. My favourite bit:

One of the most widely reported incidental overdoses occurred in East Liverpool, Ohio, where officer Chris Green became ill following a traffic stop involving drugs. Green has recovered and returned to work.

The city's police chief, John Lane, said he believes Green's illness resulted from opioid exposure, regardless of the questions raised by toxicologists. Lane said a screening test confirmed that Green had opioids in his body, but the exact method of exposure remains unclear.
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Chirotera

Chirotera

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Oct 27, 2017
4,443
How did our police force become the most weak willed terrified babies? They're afraid of everything and have no critical thinking skills.
 
Squarehard

Squarehard

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Oct 27, 2017
26,509
Chirotera said:
How did our police force become the most weak willed terrified babies? They're afraid of everything and have no critical thinking skills.
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It's because many of them have been exposed as terrified babies that are afraid of everything and have no critical thinking skills.

Before these people could just hide behind the shield, but now the shield is no longer a free pass on getting away with things.
 
Brawndo Addict

Brawndo Addict

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,422
Placebo effect is a hell of a thing but I would wager that a lot of these cops claiming overdoses (as opposed to the guys saying they felt a little sick during a traffic stop) are simply using 'misplaced' drugs they've confiscated. Just a laughable excuse to avoid the obvious conclusion of testing positive for drug use (or being caught in the hospital after actually OD-ing). Just replace it with another drug and it's almost pathetic how transparent it is.

"Oh, see it's a funny story, I only tested positive for cocaine because I absorbed it through my skin; see I dropped the bag and it flew up into the air into my face. I think I might have sneezed and it got into my nose."
 
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Nepenthe

Nepenthe

When the music hits, you feel no pain.
Administrator
Oct 25, 2017
22,337
This is who I want protecting me.

People who require emergency attention for no reason.
 
RumbleHumble

RumbleHumble

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,128
So they're just using the fentanyl, right? I mean, you aren't going to get these side-effects from touching it, placebo or no.
 
blame space

blame space

Resettlement Advisor
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,420
this isn't really hard to figure out. no one huffs their own farts more than cops.

in the valiant and heroic effort to put an end to the dirty, immoral poors who are weak and addicted to drugs, these national heroes have put themselves into the ultimate danger: absorbing drugs in a way that defies chemistry.
 
NinjaScooter

NinjaScooter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
56,184
Damaniel said:
Nah, fentanyl is white.
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giphy.gif
 
HeySeuss

HeySeuss

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
8,958
Ohio
This is weird considering I teach opioid awareness and teach that powdered fentanyl is skin permeable which was vetted by doctors at Ohio State Hospital. It can supposedly go through latex which is why nitrile gloves should be used.

Saying it can't be inhaled in it's normal state is a little misleading because the synthetic fentanyl on the streets is powdered not in liquid or transdermal patch form. It absolutely can be inhaled when it is often packaged in paper or foil wrappers
 
Chikor

Chikor

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
14,239
You know, just because drug warriors lied about drugs that are pretty much harmless it doesn't mean that they won't lie about those that are actually harmful.
This is meth all over again and people should not fall for that shit.
 
Banderdash

Banderdash

Chicken Chaser
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Nov 16, 2017
2,587
Australia
Chirotera said:
How did our police force become the most weak willed terrified babies? They're afraid of everything and have no critical thinking skills.
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Because a lot of police were in the army, or the marines... and they have been trained to think only within a very limited scope.
Also why armed forces aren't supposed to do police work.
Well, that and their very different rules of engagement.
 
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