What are Blues Drugs?

Getting Answers on the Deadly Spread of Counterfeit Opioids

Opioid addiction doesn’t discriminate. During my struggle with drug addiction, I met addicts from all walks of life. Sometimes, having money can fuel an addiction even further than being broke. I came from wealth, so I could get my hands on anything I wanted. By the time I was in my twenties, I had almost died from multiple overdoses. What are blues drugs wasn’t a question I had for very long.

I dove into opioids with both feet first, and from the original Perc 30’s to the counterfeit knockoffs flooding the streets of Phoenix today, it’s safe to say I have taken thousands of these pills. When I finally chose to get help, it took a lot of soul searching and a stay at Changes Healing Center for me to get my life back.

When I began using drugs in my teenage years, there was always the fear of overdosing. There was always the thought in the back of my mind that what I was ingesting might harm me. The power of addiction will override all of those thoughts, and you will take your chances no matter what. These days, with the rise of counterfeit pills, each time I copped it was like playing Russian roulette.

Keep reading to learn more about the ‘blues’ and how they’ve become among the most common and deadly illicit drugs now found in Arizona and across the US, and stick around to find out how Changes can help you or a loved one get your life back from the cycles of dope sickness!

What Are the Blue Pills Being Sold Across Arizona?

With the rise of opioid addiction, drug traffickers have found ways to supply counterfeit pills that look like your regular opiates, but contain fentanyl and other deadly substances. The drug trafficking world is much like any other business, except for the nature of the deadly products being sold. As the demand for these drugs rises, there is more of an influx of fake pills and drugs that are cut with god knows what.

The opioid crisis is at its peak these days, with counterfeit pills containing fentanyl and other drugs wiping out people left and right.

Between serious health complications and fentanyl overdoses, abusing any form of prescription medication has become a game of life and death. To learn more about these blue pills, read on so that you can learn the difference.

The Rise of Counterfeit Pills of All Kinds

I am very grateful to have gotten sober through residential treatment at Changes, even with the rise of blue fentanyl pills and other synthetic opioids. I was able to curb my opioid abuse, but I still know many people who abuse these drugs. I often worry about how a single dose of counterfeit pills can take them out.

With how deadly the drug market is now, a lot of addicts will never get the opportunity to even give recovery a chance.

Because the availability of oxycodone pills and other prescription drugs has been curbed due to the opiate epidemic, drug dealers have found ways to continue offering these drugs, even when they contain completely different substances. Fentanyl has become a popular option for dealers when it comes to counterfeit opiates.

Fentanyl: A Potent Synthetic Opioid Flooding the US

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is much more potent than the average prescription oxycodone. The Drug Enforcement Administration (or DEA as it is better known) ranks fentanyl as being fifty to a hundred times more powerful than morphine. The smallest amount of pure fentanyl is enough to kill multiple people who don’t have an opioid habit.

Although smoking black tar heroin has been more common in Arizona than on the East Coast, the presence of fentanyl has also made its way into this form of the drug, with deadly consequences for many users.

Whether you are buying drugs off the street, or you acquire prescription medication on the black market, there is a very good chance it is laced with fentanyl or some other illicit substance. When you’re buying drugs illegally, there are no quality control measures.

Drug dealers aren’t exactly worried about the other substances that make up the fake pills that they are pushing. Whether you are looking for oxycodone, Percocet, or any of the other mass-produced opioids, you are likely to come across pills laced with fentanyl, sooner rather than later.

What are Blues Drugs: The Low Price of a Lethal Dose

In my home state of Arizona, you can find single blue pills being sold for $3 to 5 a pop, or even less when a flood of them hits the market at once. I read an article recently that Seattle, which is far less of a drug hub than Phoenix, has wholesale prices of 40 cents a pill!

From my experiences with getting these pills in Phoenix and Tucson as well, it was rare to have moments when I could not find them, unlike with trying to find Oxys and Percs which were actual prescription drugs back in the day.

The sheer volume of ‘blues drugs’ folding into the United States is staggering, and the fact that they are made in some of the worst and unsanitary conditions makes them yet more dangerous.

Even scarier is the fact that in some places, an animal tranquilizer called Xylazine is being used to make fentanyl seem even stronger, creating even more overdose deaths and misery for those addicted.

I feel so fortunate to have gotten help with detoxing from fentanyl at Changes, and that their support allowed me to avoid being on the streets, constantly searching for the next handful of blues to stave off getting sick.

Fake Pills: How Drug Traffickers Are Killing a Generation

With the rise of opioid abuse and overdose deaths, drug traffickers are responsible for the deaths of thousands upon thousands of young people. There are addicts of all ages who have been affected by these counterfeit pills, but for the most part, the younger generation seems to suffer the most. When you are young and experimenting, you throw caution to the wind.

And then, pretty quickly, like with me, it goes from seeking pills for fun and pain relief to needing them just to wake up in the morning (and sometimes in the middle of the night).

As I mentioned above, before I arrived at Changes Healing Center to begin my recovery journey with opioid detox, I would do anything.

Oxycodone pills were my go-to, but I would take anything handed to me. I encountered the blues drug regularly, but I managed to survive. Others have not been so lucky. When you are an addict, you have a false sense of your mortality.

The Logic of Addiction in the Face of Opioid Overdose

Even though I had some fear in the back of my mind when I took unknown substances, I never thought it would happen to me. That only happens to other people that you read about. The high is the most important thing on your mind. I wasn’t thinking about how illicitly produced the drugs I was taking were.

I wasn’t thinking about the potency. If anything, I wanted the drugs I took to be as potent as possible. I felt like I hit the lottery if a drug made me almost overdose.

It’s scary where your mind can go when you’re in the depths of addiction. It’s a high-risk lifestyle with little reward. The only peace you have is when you are high enough to forget. If I was faced with any real-life issues, I would run away as fast as possible to get high. I didn’t care about my health or my well-being. It was the drugs and nothing else on my mind.

The Effects of Opioid Addiction and Escaping Dopesickness

Once I was a full-blown opiate addict, I was in a constant cycle of feeling sick and tired. Opiate addiction can lead to all sorts of physical and mental health issues. I suffered from a variety of issues, including severe respiratory depression, kidney problems, and nausea just to name a few.

My stomach was always in bad shape. If I had to go even a couple of hours without oxycodone and then fentanyl, I would feel like I was dying.

The dangers are easily recognizable, but you will do whatever it takes to dull the pain and not face it. The relief of the drugs is short-term, but it seems all worth it once you get the high you are looking for. When it comes to opiates, the high eventually goes away and you are just trying to maintain and not get sick. That is the scariest part of opiate addiction.

The Levels of Drug Abuse and Addiction

For many who have fallen victim to the opiate crisis, you begin with prescription drugs, but it doesn’t take long for you to begin looking for something stronger. As my addiction worsened, I needed more and more potent substances to feel the effects. These drugs are extremely expensive, and acquiring them becomes a full-time job. This is why so many addicts make the switch to more illicit substances like heroin and fentanyl.

If it costs you over a hundred dollars to get high off of two or three oxycodone pills, it’s a no-brainer to make the switch the heroin when a gram only costs you between ten and twenty dollars. Fentanyl pills are even cheaper than heroin because they are produced in labs and require less transport.

Since the distribution of these drugs has become more widespread, it’s much easier to get the blues drug than it is to get actual prescription opiates, or even heroin in many places.

How Can I Achieve Recovery?

If you’re asking yourself this question, then there is hope. A lot of addicts don’t ever want to get clean. I’ve heard it from countless people. They don’t want help. It’s sad, but it’s a personal choice. No one is going to bully you into getting clean. You have to want it, and if you want it bad enough, you might be able to achieve it. Opioid use takes a lot of hard work and personal responsibility to overcome.

The statistics on addiction in our ongoing opioid epidemic can be grim, but I’ve seen enough success stories to know that anyone can get clean if they put their mind to it. When I began my recovery work with the fentanyl treatment program at Changes, I knew that I was in a unique position.

Making the Choice and Commitment to Staying Clean

I had made it here after all I had been through, and I knew that I needed to seize the opportunity.

My recovery is the most important part of my day. It’s on my mind all the time. I still go to meetings and talk about my feelings as much as possible. I have off days, but I hang onto my sobriety because I know how hard it is to attain. It’s the best choice I’ve ever made, and I couldn’t have made it work without the great people at Changes Healing Center.

Getting Support at Changes for Recovery from Opioids

I’ve been sober for almost three years now, and the idea of going back to my old ways is terrifying. It’s made even more scary by the fact that counterfeit pills and the blues drug are readily available. I definitely think that if I were to relapse, it would kill me. Unfortunately, a lot of people overdose and die following a relapse. Your tolerance goes down, and just taking a little too much can be fatal.

If you or someone you care about are struggling with blues or opioid addiction in any form, and reading about my story seems familiar, give yourself a fighting chance at getting clean and get help now!

Make the call to Changes and get their support in your corner, I know it made all the difference in the world for me!