3-Methylfentanyl (3-MF, mefentanyl) is an opioid analgesic that is an analog of fentanyl.
3-Methylfentanyl is one of the most potent opioids, estimated to be between 400 and 6000 times stronger than morphine, depending on which isomer is used (with the cis isomers being the more potent ones).
3-methylfentanyl is extremely dangerous when used recreationally, and has resulted in many deaths among recreational opioid users ingesting the drug across the globe.
While 3-methylfentanyl was initially sold on the black market for only a short time between 1984 and 1985, its high potency made it an attractive target to clandestine drug producers, as racemic 3-MF is 10–15 times more potent than fentanyl, and so correspondingly larger amounts of cut product for street sales can be produced for an equivalent amount of effort as for producing fentanyl itself; one gram of 3-methylfentanyl might be sufficient to produce several thousand dosage units once diluted for sale. 3-MF has thus reappeared several times, at various places around the world.
7/30/2021 – The Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Investigative Support Center released a bulletin regarding two seizures of 3-Methylfentanyl (α-Methylfentanyl, mefentanyl, 3-MF)