"antaganost". Ouch. It's an antagonist.

Okay, maybe I'm naive - haven't snorted coke for about a quarter decade - but why the FUCK would anyone cut it with something this powerful in the first place? Is it actually cheaper than all the non-lethall crap with which it used to be cut? Are there just sick, sadistic mo-fo's out there who can afford to kill their customers? Did the victims have some sort of perverse death wish? Seriously, this just boggles my mind, and all I can think of is that someone who actually knew these two women must be wracking their own brains asking the same questions in their shock and grief.

Um, make that "a quarter century"... I blame the tequila...

@4, I was thinking that too. If you're trying to dilute it for economic reasons, you'd use a cholinergic or speed (iirc). And if you're trying to put an opiate in there (I think we used to call those "speedballs"), wouldn't you put something cheap and familiar in it, like heroin? My guess is that this was an accident, and the dealer wasn't that familiar with the new compound.
You can't really put a good spin on an accidental death, no matter who it is, but these women at least did not suffer, for what it's worth.

Correction: The best prevention is legalization of all drugs, sale of drugs of known strength and quality, and establishment of safe drug use sites.

@4 The heroin in these parts is mostly black tar-wouldn't mix well with coke. But I was wondering the same thing. Maybe somebody got fentanyl free through Medicare? Or maybe it was an accident. Or maybe it was a purposely tainted bag meant for somebody else.
Whatever happened, this is tragic. Condolences to their families.

Dammit I meant @6

@7/9: There was no evidence present that suggested that the consumer possessed the pure fentanyl, so it happened up the chain. Someone got the bright idea to get "more for their money" and poisoned their customers.

Prohibition!

There have been a lot of fentanyl deaths here in San Francisco, including, sadly, friends of mine. This is a widespread problem.

Maybe it's a new, government-sponsored war on drugs. Lace the illegal stuff with a lethal poison and watch people die.

drugs....you buy your ticket and you take your ride.

Cocaine is a schedule II drug, which means that under the right circumstances a physician can use it Presumably, this medical grade cocaine has not been laced with acetylfentanyl. Therefore the premise is flawed. There is a way to know if cocaine has been laced and that can be done with regulation.
The obvious solution is to regulate it.

@9 you don't get drugs free from Medicare...if you're looking to insult a group of people at least get it right. Medicare is a federally funded insurance that elderly and disabled people receive if they paid into it...and there are copays, sometimes very large copays...I think you mean Medicaid but either way, rude.

Another fine example of how the War on Drugs hurts people.

We lost thousands of children; young men and women during earlier prohibition era's with infused(tainted) alcohol with things you wouldn't want in your system.

Bad part is now Cocaine sales will go through the roof; laced product will always make people come out in droves for the product. It's been proven; kill someone and there's 5 people lining up over the dead body for your product.

It seems most likely to me that these women had both of these drugs separately and mixed them together as really dumb idea or a dumb accident. That or it was done maliciously by whoever provided it to them.

@20: keksimus maximus

@21 There would have been signs of this if they had, but there's no indication in the reports. Almost certainly a third party involved.

Not mentioned in this article is the fact that the police found 5 or more pill bottles on the table as well. I also think it's entirely possible that they added the acetylfentanyl themselves, considering this. I'd be interested to know what else was consumed.

@24 (and @9 "Medicare" what the heck dude?) acetylfentanyl has never been prescribed in the US, it's illicit only.

@25 pot sucks. But so does the shitty coke in this city. I don't think kids know what a coke high is like because people stomp on it so many times before it get to the Amazon crowd its gone.

Have they found any acetylfentanyl-laced cocaine at The Stranger's offices yet? Or is everyone just on edge a little more than usual?