M-30’s

What is it?

M-30 is the common, or street name, for oxycodone IR 30 mg pills, called that because the pill has a ‘30’ on one side and an ‘M’ on the other. These have long been very popular with opiate users.

Where do people get them?

Off the street, purchased online or through friends.

How are they dangerous?

Several years ago, dealers started to press pills to look identical to the pharmaceutical M-30s, but they actually made them with Fentanyl, due to the cheaper cost and easier availability of Fentanyl vs pharmaceutical oxycodone. This caused a huge spike in overdose deaths, because people did not know they were getting Fentanyl. Now, at least in most metropolitan areas, most opiate addicts know they are getting Fentanyl when they buy M-30’s off the street.

Now we assume anyone buying M-30s that aren’t prescribed is actually getting Fentanyl. At Gallus we did a review of all of our opiate admissions from November through the end of February, 88% were positive for Fentanyl – that accounted for 100% of the Colorado opiate admissions, and only 2 of the Scottsdale admissions were actually getting oxycodone – they were purchased from friends who were selling their prescriptions. Prior to a few years ago, we never saw Fentanyl unless it was prescribed.