According to MDs, people aren't harmed when they are accidentally exposed to fentanyl. It's an urban myth that police departments like to spread without evidence to back it up.
In this video, Ryan Marino, MD, debunks the myth. He explains that fentanyl, a drug medically used since the 1960s for pain treatment and sedation, has a history of safe, effective use. However, its illicit use and related overdoses, mainly from fentanyl-laced street drugs, began in the 1970s and have significantly shaped the current crisis. Despite myths from around 2016 or 2017 suggesting danger from casual exposure, scientific understanding shows that fentanyl absorption through skin or inhalation is highly unlikely without massive, prolonged exposure.
"It can only get into your system if you are injecting, snorting, or ingesting it," says Dr. Marino. "And if you could overdose just by touching it, nobody would go to the lengths of injecting it."
