You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know
The New Drugs On The Street
The world continues to change faster than we can keep up with. What we thought we knew yesterday has already changed today. The reality is: You don’t know what you don’t know. It is that simple.
It is okay not to know how to cook a turducken for the holidays or how to work the Pythagorean theorem but it is definitely not okay to not know about the dangers of todays ever-changing illicit drug landscape.
Growing up, I knew very little about illicit drugs. I was very fortunate not to have been living with the disease of addiction or recognized someone struggling at that time in my life. I was instructed by my parents to stay away from illicit drugs. I was told by Nancy Reagan to “just say no to drugs” and that worked for me. I was very lucky and very blessed.
For many years, I naively thought that I was living in a safe world, as I didn’t choose (or have the temptation or peer pressure around me) to try illicit drugs. I also, thankfully, did not have “friends” who fooled me into trying something laced with one of the many illicit and adulterant drugs now on our streets: Fentanyl, Nitrazines, Eutylone, Xylazine and Medetomidine. These are only a few of the newer synthetic drugs that we now know are poisoning our loved ones today. What we don’t know now is what illicit drugs will be here tomorrow.
One thing I wasn’t taught in childhood about illicit drugs was that things constantly change. Drugs are no longer “natural”. They are being adulterated and created in every part of our country and world. The real world is much crueler than what I could have ever imagined or planned for. As I became an adult I learned that I needed to keep up with how the world was changing. Even what I thought I knew changed and continues to change every single day. What I once didn’t know is what I needed to learn. The reality is that the changes in our drug landscape are outpacing our ability to learn all of the unexpected dangers.
When I had children, I, again had a lot to learn. I not only needed to learn for myself, but for them and with them. I researched everything, I paid attention to the changing world. I tried to learn about all of the potential risks out there. I had conversations with my children and helped teach them to be aware. We learned from each other as they grew up and the world continued to change.
Today’s reality is that there is so much more to learn at a rapid rate. Drugs are no longer sought after in a dark ally if wanted. They are accessible 24/7. Snapchat, Instagram, Tik Tok and other apps have made it far too easy for our children to see drugs available indiscreetly. Quick photos of drugs can appear from A to Z and be delivered to our door. The photos, the proof and the accountability are gone in an instant. Social media and apps have opened the door to unexpected accessibility of illicit drugs and to other ways predators have learned to trick us, harm us and our loved ones.
For many years, drugs like Heroin and Cocaine were in the public eye. Then the over-prescribed and abused drug Oxycontin became our biggest danger. Today, Fentanyl is thought to be the deadliest illicit drug of them all and is taking the spotlight. What you may not know is that while we are trying to get a grip on Fentanyl we already have other drugs in play. The extreme potency of Fentanyl is already deadly enough in amounts less than what you can find on the tip of a pencil. However, when other adulterants are added to it an overdose can not be entirely reversed by Naloxone (Narcan). Naloxone can only be used to reverse the effects of opioids. Also, to be clear, sometimes even multiple doses of Naloxone isn’t enough to save someones life from opioid poisoning.
What are some of these newer drugs that you may not have heard of? To name a few:
Fentanyl - Synthetic Opioid
Nitrazines - Synthetic Opioid
Eutylone - Synthetic Opioid
Remember: Synthetic drugs are man-made and do not rely on weather or location to be produced. Not all man made drugs are detected by labs.
Veterinary sedatives being added to illicit street drugs:
Xylazine, aka “Tranq” - A Veterinary sedative (not an opioid) that makes reversing Fentanyl overdoses very difficult.
Medetomidine, aka “Dex”, “Rhino Tranq” - A Veterinary sedative (not an opioid) that makes reversing Fentanyl overdoses very difficult.
Remember: These are both veterinary drugs intended to be used as sedatives on large exotic animals. Not humans. There is currently no FDA approved antidote for reversing the effects of these sedatives in humans. (Source: Centers for Disease Control). Think about it: adding a sedative meant for an elephant to an opioid the size of a few grains of sand. You don’t stand a chance. Especially if you didn’t know you were ingesting these drugs in the first place. Remember before when I said when a “friend” offers you something to try? Well, NANCY REAGAN AND JACK’S MOM SAY DO NOT TRY IT!!!
The complexity of how these drugs interact with each other and contribute to the constantly changing drug landscape is massive. At the end of this blog I have attached several articles/resources for you to read to learn more. After all, I don’t know everything, but I have learned a lot along the way the hard way. Perhaps, even by the time you read my attached articles/resources the information will have changed.
Despite my knowledge and my children’s awareness, my twenty-two-year-old son, Jack, passed away on 9/9/23 from the effects of some of these drugs listed above. He was one of hundreds of thousands of lives lost to drugs that are poisoning our loved ones. In today’s world, you don’t have to struggle with the disease of addiction to die from illicit drugs. What may have been considered an impulsive mistake in the past has now, too commonly, become instantaneously deadly with no do-overs.
I believe that it is important to continue to learn and educate oneself about the things that you don’t know or didn’t know at the time. I did the best that I could with what I knew at the time, and I can’t and won’t stop there. I am curious, passionate, and I want to continue to help educate others. Jack was the same way and would be doing just that if he were here today. The photo used for this blog was an example of who Jack was at an early age. A 3rd grader dressed up as the dictionary. Jack was full of knowledge and always offering to share what he knew to help others.
Remember, you don’t know what you don’t know. I hope that you will keep educating yourselves as well. Keep seeking information, gain awareness and use this knowledge to help educate others with what you learn. Read, watch the news, pay attention. Share resources. Be safe.
Never give up hope and always be inspired by Jack!
Mindy
Articles/Sources and Resources:
https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2024-05/5.23.2024%20NDTA-updated.pdf