The fentanyl hysteria
How local media and law enforcement spread harmful myths about fentanyl
This thesis project could not have been completed without the help of Dr. Brendan Jacka, PhD, Michael Tan (an undergraduate student at Brown University) and of course Dr. Brandon DL Marshall, PhD.
The United States is in the midst of multiple health crises. Before COVID-19 disrupted our lives, thousands were dying from drug-related overdose each year. Systemic racism and white supremacy meant that Black, Latinx, and Indigenous populations had shorter life spans and more comorbidities living unhealthy and shorter lives, compared to their White neighbors. Take the overdose crisis for instance, according to the CDC, overdose mortality is increasing the fastest in non-whtie populations. The pandemic has only exacerbated all of these issues — drug overdose rates have skyrocketed and COVID-19 has disproportionately hit Black, Latinx, and Indigenous populations. Over the last two months, thousands of people have also taken to the streets in protest of the anti-Black violence that is inflicted on communities across America by police forces. Thousands chose to raise their voice and gather in a pandemic to demand the defunding of the police. This has also once again raised questions about the role of police in responding to overdoses and in harm reduction work more generally.
Law enforcement officials responding to overdose calls is common practice in communities across the United States. Over the last few years, the media has reported stories of law enforcement and other first responders “overdosing” or otherwise experiencing adverse symptoms like nausea and dizziness when they come into contact with fentanyl — the drug that has been behind many of the opioid-related overdoses over the past few years. As a result, law enforcement officers have been taking precautions and have been hesitant to respond to overdose scenes. However, there is no evidence to suggest that fentanyl can produce such a reaction. In 2017, the American College of Medical Toxicology and the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology put out a joint statemen t in which they affirmed that one cannot overdose or experience adverse symptoms when touching fentanyl. They also said that while fentanyl can theoretically pose a threat while aerosolized or airborne, the chances of this happening are extremely unlikely.
My thesis project looked at the role media plays in reporting these myths and other narratives associated with law enforcement interactions with fentanyl. After conducting searches in Google News, around 600 articles were collected from January 2016 to December 2019 — of that, a random sample of 200 articles were analyzed. All articles discussed law enforcement interactions with fentanyl, but not all of them were about a specific event.
The majority (73%) of stories were reported by local media and 77% of stories analyzed contained some sort of fentanyl myth. Specifically, 45% percent of all stories reported a risk of being exposed to fentanyl through skin contact, while 38% reported a risk of airborne exposure. Eighty-five percent of these stories cited law enforcement as a source. Only about 11% of articles included information that corrected the reported myth.
When we looked solely at the reporting around exposure events (that is, reports about law enforcement and other responders overdosing or experiencing symptoms at a scene, n = 51), we found that the majority of events involved a police officer (76%). Eighty percent of the time the responder was hospitalized and naloxone was used on the responder in about half of the events. Around 25% of the time a responder was responding to an overdose, and in 23% of the events they were conducting a drug seizure-related arrest. There was a wide range of reported symptoms that included dizziness and disorientation, trouble breathing, excess sweating, and nausea.
The officers are likely experiencing symptoms; they just aren’t caused by fentanyl. These reactions are likely psychosomatic in nature — the Journal of Emergency Medical Services reports that these reactions are psychosomatic and related to preexisting fear and anxiety. These psychosomatic symptoms have also been reported with exposure to WiFi and with consuming MSG (long associated with the racist “Chinese restaurant syndrome”), and can occur after exposure to a substance or phenomena perceived to be(but not actually) harmful to one’s health.
The results of this project demonstrate that local media often get their news directly from law enforcement officials without fact checking with other sources. This problematic relationship between media and law enforcement has been documented in the past — reporting details verbatim from police press releases. Most recently, we have seen instances of this when media outlets have reported details of “intentional food poisoning” against police officers at restaurants, only for those allegations to turn out to be false. Local media may play a substantial role in spreading these myths and causing others (law enforcement and bystanders) to internalize them.
“The pervasive spread of these myths puts people who use drugs in danger and has centered law enforcement in conversations about safety.”
The pervasive spread of these myths puts people who use drugs in danger and has centered law enforcement in conversations about safety. At an overdose scene, rather than attend to the person who is overdosing — officers may be more concerned about donning unnecessary protective equipment and using naloxone on themselves rather than the welfare of the person. There has also been a troubling trend of treating fentanyl exposure as a type of assault on an officer — these charges have been issued in the past when officers are exposed to fentanyl and experience symptoms. All of this further discourages people who use drugs from calling 911 to get medical assistance for an overdose.
The solution to this problem might be to simply train officers to recognize that fentanyl is not a threat; however, police trainings are not always effective in getting their intended outcome. Years of training on racial bias have failed to eliminate the disproportionate violence that Black communities face at the hands of the police. Across America, people have been demanding the defunding of the police and the reallocation of resources from the carceral system to those that support the well-being of communities and provide more money for health care, education, child care, food programs, and many other things. The solution isn’t more trained cops in handling overdose; it’s no cops responding at all. Already, we have seen the St. Petersburg Police Department announce that they will no longer respond to calls about overdose; dispatching a non-armed community liaison instead. Los Angeles has looked into using community responders to respond to non-violent calls, including overdose. These are all steps in the right direction that should be explored nationwide.
“ The solution isn’t more trained cops in handling overdose, its no cops responding at all.”
The moment we are presently living in demands that we all do the hard work of envisioning what alternatives to policing look like. That we work towards a world where our communities are healthier, safer, and free from oppression. This work is demanding and difficult, but we can start with small manageable steps. There is no reason for police to be involved in overdose calls, so let’s start there.
