Touching fentanyl won’t kill you. Why won’t cops and policymakers get the memo?

jeffw@lemmy.worldmod to News@lemmy.world – 143 points –
Touching fentanyl won’t kill you. Why won’t cops and policymakers get the memo?
salon.com
11

At this moment, three bills — one in Florida (SB 718), one in West Virginia (HB 5319) and the other in Tennessee (SB 1754) — are making their way through their respective state legislatures. All three will allow for a felony charge to be levied against people who expose a first responder to fentanyl or a fentanyl analog, such as carfentanil or remifentanil.

All Republican states. They sure never miss an opportunity to incarcerate and kill the poor.

Felonies all over the place. There are more reasonable charges if the point isn't just to destroy as many lives as possible.

1 more...

Because it gives them an excuse for more repressive policing. None of this is accidental.

I've seen videos of people throwing Fentanyl in the face of police officers, so for sure it happens. Fentanyl can be absorbed via inhalation, which is also why some police carry Narcan, even for personal use should they be exposed.

I know if I was a first responder I sure wouldn't want to be exposed to that nasty shit.

A lot of unpleasant stuff can be absorbed through the eye. Is that the concern?

googles

Apparently we don't know.

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ershdb/emergencyresponsecard_29750022.html

Fentanyl can be absorbed into the body via inhalation, oral exposure or ingestion, or skin contact. It is not known whether fentanyl can be absorbed systemically through the eye. Fentanyl can be administered intravenously (IV), intramuscularly (IM), or as a skin patch (transdermally).

I think that these guys, NIOSH, are the people that the article author is disagreeing with, FWIW.

it can be absorbed through the skin, but it's slow and if you practice standard safety practices... mitigation is simple and easy. like... washing your hands, wearing nitrile gloves when interacting with people. and the most obvious: If you don't know what it is, don't be fucking touching it.

It's not the same as getting stuck with a contaminated needle during a pat down... even if you might get exposed, you can just wash your hands real quick and be perfectly fine.

But I was told even being within one square mile of a dust of spec of fent will kill every cop who is unlucky enough to be around but all the perps and regular citizens are immune??

They're just freaked out cause Dracula is drinkin fentanyl laced cereal milk.