According to the 2022 National Survey on Psychoactive Substance Use, the age group with the highest incidence of fentanyl consumption in Costa Rica is 30 to 39 years old, with 16 out of every 10,000 people reporting its usage at some point in their lives.

“The risk extends to young people and adults in general, so it is key at this time to raise awareness and reinforce any action we can take together as a society to stop the escalation of this problem,” said Hidalgo, who issued an urgent call to the public regarding the synthetic opioid that drug traffickers mix with other substances such as heroin, cocaine, ketamine, alcohol, and benzodiazepines to enhance its effects, increasing the risk of overdose and death.

The College of Pharmacists also called on government institutions to strengthen controls on the importation and distribution of pharmaceuticals, as well as to strengthen education and prevention strategies among the population.

On February 5th, Drug Control Police officers seized a batch of 30,000 tablets of the chemical in downtown San José, classified as the drug that most commonly causes death due to overdose, the union recalled.

According to data from the country’s Institute on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, fentanyl is between 50 and 100 times stronger than morphine, a potent chemical used for severe pain, especially in patients with advanced cancer.

jrr/llp/lam/apb