Dr. Dustin Smith, an ER doctor specializing in addiction medicine joins Mark Reardon to discuss the Fentanyl crisis in St. Louis.
Fentanyl pills are being created to look like other pain medications, according to Dr. Smith. And because of this, some individuals who seek pain medications, due to prescriptions expiring or lost medication, are ingesting Fentanyl without even knowing it.
The motivation? Building a higher tolerance.
“As you become more tolerant to the substance, it causes less of a euphoria or less of a high effect,” Dr. Smith said, but the…withdrawal symptoms that the individual experiences, is more severe which perpetuates the ongoing cycle of the use.”
To hear the full story, listen above.
