Hand pressing spray button on naloxone nasal spray

Let’s reverse the overdose crisis.

You know what doesn’t make sense? Countless people dying from fentanyl overdoses when we have the power to help – when we have facts that can teach us how to stay safe. We all have the power to save lives and reverse overdoses.

Fentanyl Facts Get Naloxone Responding to an Overdose

The facts on fentanyl

Fake

50X

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, up to 50 times stronger than heroin and a whopping 100 times more potent than morphine.

Did you know that a speck of fentanyl, an amount smaller than a raindrop or a few grains of salt, could literally kill you?

Real

Fake

Fentanyl is sneaky: you can’t see, taste, or smell it. Remember, fentanyl is an opioid. Many pills or powders sold as illicit drugs* may contain fentanyl – even if they’re sold as something else. Fentanyl makes illicit drugs more dangerous than they’ve ever been.

We’ve seen it in so-called “party drugs” like MDMA and cocaine, “study drugs” like fake Adderall, and everything in between – yup, even counterfeit pills that look like legitimate prescription drugs, including Xanax and oxy.

Long story short? Unless it’s prescribed by a clinician and administered by a pharmacist, don’t trust it.

In California, drug overdose was the leading cause of death among 25 to 54-year-olds in 2022, with the highest rates of overdose among those aged 30-39.

*An illicit drug refers to drugs that are illegal (e.g., heroin, cocaine, etc.) or pills not obtained from a pharmacy (e.g., fake Xanax, fake Adderall, etc.)

Info & Resources on Naloxone

Naloxone: the real MVP

There’s a lot to rave about when it comes to naloxone. Life-saving medication used to reverse opioid overdoses? Check.
Simple to use and available as a non-addictive nasal spray? Yup – it’s small enough to throw in your bag to have on you, just in case.

Let’s talk: stigma

Time to set the record straight: if you carry naloxone, it means you’re prepared to help save a life. It doesn’t say anything about whether you use drugs, or what you think about drug use. Think of it like a first-aid kit – or knowing CPR.

And by the way, naloxone can only be used on someone else — not yourself. Carrying naloxone means you’re prepared to respond to overdoses by providing immediate aid when every second counts.

Finding naloxone

Naloxone is now available for purchase over-the-counter and online (nope, you don’t need a prescription). You can even use this map to find it for free near you.

In almost 40% of overdose deaths in California, a bystander was present. These are deaths that might have been prevented if a bystander knew when and how to help. Let’s change that.

Hey, did that person’s breathing slow or stop? Naloxone and rescue breathing can quickly restore normal breathing if it’s changed due to an opioid overdose.

Naloxone only works to reverse an overdose when someone has opioids in their system, but it won’t harm someone who did not overdose from opioids.

Find Naloxone Near You

Test substances, not fate.

Grab and use some fentanyl test to detect the presence of fentanyl in drugs. If used correctly, they give you a simple yes or no on whether fentanyl’s present — but not how much. Caution: a negative result does not necessarily mean your drugs are safe to use. Follow the directions carefully. Most fentanyl test strips on the market cost one dollar per strip, and free or low-cost test strips are also available at California’s syringe services programs (SSPs).

Another thing to consider when testing your drugs is that when fentanyl is mixed with other drugs, it is never mixed evenly. Think of drugs like a chocolate chip cookie: some cookies have lots of chips, while some may have only a few. In some cookies, the chips are on one side of the cookie and not the other. If you only take a bite of a piece of a cookie, then you could get a piece without chips. Similarly, in the case of drugs, the powder from one side of a baggie or on the edge of a pressed pill may contain no fentanyl at all, yet the other side—or another pill—may contain a deadly dose. This is why you need to thoroughly mix and test every bit of drug you intend to consume.

You can find more information from the California Department of Public Health.

Learn about treatment resources and harm reduction practices (acting in alliance with people who use drugs for safer and managed drug use).

How To Use: Fentanyl Test Strips

You can find more information about fentanyl test strips from the California Department of Public Health. Learn about treatment resources and harm reduction practices (acting in alliance with people who use drugs for safer and managed drug use).

Recognizing an opioid overdose

Illustration of an eye with a pinpoint pupil that doubles as a person’s head — Small, constricted “pinpoint pupils”

Illustration of a person sunken into clouds — Falling asleep or losing consciousness

Illustration of lungs with tree branches inside and leaves falling off the branches — Slow, weak or no breathing

Illustration of a blacked-out face and a thermometer in place of facial features — Cold and/or clammy skin

Illustration of a mouth with waves in place of the tongue — Choking or gurgling sounds

Illustration of a person sitting in a chair with their arm on the armrest — Limp body

Illustration of three sets of lips — Discolored skin (especially in lips and nails)

How To

Stay safe while saving lives

California’s Good Samaritan law protects those giving emergency medical care at the scene of a medical emergency, including giving naloxone. This means if you act in good faith to help someone who’s overdosing, you’re protected from getting in trouble. You should also know that fentanyl is dangerous when it is consumed, which means you cannot overdose through inhalation or by touching someone who may be overdosing.

Three teenagers wearing T-shirts reading INFORMED HUMAN

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Inform your community

Knowledge = power. Fentanyl overdoses are preventable. Join us in learning about the risks of fentanyl and how to prevent overdoses.

Get informed today: FactsFightFentanyl.org

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As part of California’s response to the opioid crisis, our mission is to inform and protect Californians and our communities from the fentanyl crisis, which has a far-reaching impact. We recognize the stigma surrounding drug use and aim to bridge the gap between awareness and action. Together, we aspire to cultivate a healthy and thriving California where the harms of fentanyl are decreased. We can achieve this goal through collective effort by equipping ourselves with solutions to prevent and reverse overdoses, arming ourselves with facts, and learning how to identify risks and prepare for emergencies.