Even Once Is Too Much –
July 30, 2019 – The figure contradicts a narrative being pushed by health and crime agencies, as well as the White House and much of the media, that drug dealers are routinely lacing cocaine with fentanyl. In 2017, NYC’s health department launched a publicity campaign warning that recreational cocaine users were at “exceptionally high risk of overdose” from fentanyl-laced cocaine, an effort that recently reached bars and clubs in Brooklyn.
It may not be as high as portrayed, but the ratio of cocaine samples testing positive for fentanyl has been edging up, albeit by modest amounts, from 0.4 percent in 2016 to 1.5 percent last year. During the first three months of this year, the ratio was 2.1 percent … “This data shows that, although the rise in the rate of contamination is concerning, the accidental cross-contaminating rate is low and purposeful contamination is not happening. So the level of public health concern should remain low,” said Professor Dan Ciccarone, a leading authority on the US drug market at the University of California in San Francisco.
