Frequently asked questions

Aware, Prepared, and Alive is Douglas County’s source for information on fentanyl.  Our mission is to provide crucial tools that can help create a safer community for all: fentanyl education, access to confidential all-age naloxone distribution sites, overdose prevention resources, and overcoming stigma. 

Fentanyl is a very powerful opioid that can be obtained through a prescription from a provider as well as in the illegal drug market. It has no odor and no taste, and an amount about the size of two grains of salt can cause an adult to overdose. 

Fentanyl isn’t added to drugs in a quality controlled lab. It’s mixed into pills and powders, and the distribution is completely random. That means ANY bump, line, pill, or hit could be the one that causes an overdose—even if another one didn’t. It’s impossible to know if your supply is laced just by looking at it.  

While pills and powders are the substances that are the most commonly laced, almost any illicit substance can have fentanyl. Legal substances, such as Marijuana, may have this deadly drug mixed into it as well. Often, counterfeit pills look identical to the real thing, making it impossible to spot the difference. If it wasn’t prescribed to you and you did not pick it up from a pharmacy, it runs the risk of being laced. 

Dealers, your friends, friends of friends, or trusted dealers may have NO IDEA their product is laced until it’s too late. Fentanyl gets mixed into pills and powders during the counterfeit production of the drug.

Fentanyl is cheap to make, extremely potent, and more addictive than other illicit substances. Dealers or manufacturers may add it into powders and counterfeit pills to make a bigger profit. However, just a few grains of fentanyl can take it from potent to deadly. 

Fentanyl is hard to mix evenly into other products. All it takes is two salt-sized grains to cause a fatal overdose, and with fentanyl randomly mixed in pills and powders, one hit may have a fatal amount when another does not. 

Naloxone is a life–saving medication that is legal and widely available to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose and save a life.  It comes in both an injectable and nasal spray form. Naloxone is often referred to as Narcan.  Naloxone is the generic name and Narcan is the brand name. 

Anyone of any age can get naloxone. Naloxone can be obtained multiple ways here in Douglas County. 

• Pharmacies – No prescription needed, normal copays may apply 
• HIV Alliance – Free of charge. 647 W. Luellen Dr. Suite #3, Roseburg OR 97471