Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board

Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board Alert:

CONTACT INFORMATION: Emergency - 703-573-5679 / Detox - 703-502-7000 (24/7)

703-383-8500 TTY 711

csb@fairfaxcounty.gov

8221 Willow Oaks Corporate Drive
Fairfax, Virginia 22031

Daryl Washington
Executive Director

Department Resources

Related Resources

What is addiction? What are opioids?

What is addiction?

A chronic disease; can lead to death if not treated. Brain chemistry is altered.
Individual is unable to abstain from the drug; loses ability to control behavior.
Emotional responses become dysfunctional; judgment becomes impaired.

Used for pain management for Stage 4 cancer patients.
Ten times more potent than heroin.
Lethal dose of pure fentanyl is about the size of a few grains of salt.
In 2020 in Fairfax County, police reporting indicates fentanyl has been found combined with cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, ketamine and synthetic cannabinoids.

Now present in illegal U.S. drug markets.
10,000 times more potent than morphine; 100 times more potent than fentanyl.
Depresses the central nervous system and ability to breathe.
Tiny particles (through nose, mouth, injection) can create life-threatening effects within minutes of exposure.

Also called “tranq” or “tranq dope.”
Non-opioid animal sedative and not approved for human use.
More frequently showing up in the drug supply and has made the overdose crisis more severe.
May complicate overdose response because there is no drug to reverse its effects and it is undetectable without drug testing equipment.