There has been a warning this week on the dangerous residues of drugs on shopping carts that could enter the body of people touching them. The warning has been made by the Leachville Police Department in Arkansas, urging people to wipe the handles from their shopping carts before touching them.
The police department wrote that touching the cart and then ‘rub your nose or touch your child’s mouth’ could turn out to be deadly.
The Chance of Overdosing is Completely Impossible
One of the founders of the Missouri Network for Opiate Reform and Recovery, Chad Sabora said that overdosing is completely impossible when touching a shopping cart that has fentanyl residue on it.
The drug is not absorbed by touching the residue, and Dr. Christopher Hoyte, the associate medical director at the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center said that someone who came in contact with the drug is ‘highly, highly, highly, unlikely’ to become systematically ill by touching fentanyl.
Side Effects From the Drug Will Be Felt if it Was Breathed In
If someone touches residue of fentanyl, rubs their nose and breathes it in, there is a possibility to feel some side effects. Fentanyl is a drug that is either injected or snorted, and Sabora added that it will not have any impact if it’s orally absorbed.
Before the Police Department posted the announce, they read the effects of fentanyl in the DEA manual, saying that it is deadly, being 40 – 50 times stronger than heroin. A small quantity of it will kill a person if they ingest it or absorbs it through their skin.
The DEA didn’t deny that exposure to fentanyl through shopping carts was possible, but they stated that the manual was meant only for law enforcement, and not for informing the public.
The officer that posted the warning apologized for not checking the matter more further before posting it.
