Recently, I posted some gallows humor about fentanyl. The thing about that story is that “enough fentanyl to kill every American” is really just not that large a quantity, because the stuff is so terribly potent. A recent police stop in Florida highlights just how dangerous it is, as officer Courtney Bannick was nearly felled by an incredibly brief exposure to the drug. Thanks to three doses of Narcan, she survived the incident.

You’ve probably heard about Narcan, the brand name for naloxone. As explained by the CDC, it’s “a life-saving medication that can reverse an overdose from opioids—including heroin, fentanyl, and prescription opioid medications—when given in time”. Slate has an article urging parents to get trained and stock Narcan at home, and it’s quite a read. At this point, it seems like naloxone ought to be in every medicine cabinet around the country.

Update (January 12, 2023): Under an hour after posting this, reader Stuart C. provided some information that calls into question the details of the aforementioned police story. This CNN article in particular is a worthwhile read.

Of course, even without the police portion of the story above, fentanyl is still real bad news. If it’s less dangerous than that story implies, that would certainly be nice, but it is still dangerous stuff.