The Story:
A Leachville, Arkansas, Police Department post on Facebook this week warned shoppers that traces of the drug Fentanyl on a shopping card handle could affect them. Millions have reacted as the post went viral.
Why It Matters:
Fentanyl is a powerful painkiller that’s also an opiod, similar to morphine but up to 100 times more potent. Some analogues of the drug can be up to 10,000 times as potent.
The post went viral, and it bore credibility because, after all, it was the police posting it. Millions of shoppers have been put in a state of panic over the risks.
The shopping season is fast approaching, and shoppers are naturally worried about the risk of fentanyl traces on shopping cart handles potentially being fatal to them.
The Nuts and Bolts:
There have been no verified cases of fentanyl traces being fatal to any shopper who touches a shopping cart handle.
Florida Poison Control Center’s Dr. Alfred Aleguas calls it “ridiculous” and “such an overreaction.”
He adds, however, that a sanitizing swipe of shopping cart handles before contact will help avoid Noro virus infection or flu and cold infection during the winter season.
