Acetylfentanyl: An Emerging Drug of Abuse

Opioid analgesics are widely used in health care, yet have significant potential for abuse. High doses are associated with potentially fatal respiratory depression, which caused 21,314 deaths in the United States in 2011. Acetylfentanyl, a synthetic opioid agonist closely related to fentanyl, recently emerged as a drug of abuse linked to numerous deaths in North America.A 36-year-old male developed the habit of using a propylene glycol...