How Fentanyl and Other Opioids Affect The Brain

What is Fentanyl?

Fentanyl is synthetic morphine. Fentanyl, heroin, morphine, and certain types of prescription pain medications all belong to the same class of opioid drugs.

Originally developed as a surgical anesthetic in the 1960s, fentanyl began to be used as a medication for severe pain management in the 1990s. The most common legal medical administration of fentanyl for pain management is by transdermal patch or sublingual spray.