SLike many New Yorkers, they actually wanted to buy cocaine: a lawyer, a banker and a social worker ordered the drug from a dealer who came to the front door. It was supposed to be like an illegal pizza service for the high – but Julia G., Ross M. and Amanda S. died of an overdose of fentanyl. Julia G.’s mother told the Wall Street Journal that her daughter was an ambitious woman with a fulfilling life – she never wanted to take fentanyl in her life. The victims had nothing to do with a “drug scene,” the report said.
Cocaine is popular, and not just as a party drug. But there has long been fear among intoxication seekers because many dealers either stretch the powder with fentanyl or do not know that they are selling adulterated goods. The synthetic opioid is said to be responsible for 81 percent of cocaine deaths in New York. In 2020, 980 users died in the city – and only a few had used pure cocaine. As little as two milligrams of fentanyl can be fatal, and it is believed to be fifty times more potent than heroin.