Carfentanil
So long as there continues to be a large unmet demand for opioids because we aren't treating people with addiction, the illicit market will find ways to meet that demand - Hakique Virani MD
image by: Dennice Goudie
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Heroin Epidemic's New Terror: Carfentanil
Carfentanil is the most potent commercial opioid in the world, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. It is 10,000 times stronger than morphine, and at least 100 times more powerful than its analog, the opioid fentanyl, which was linked to Prince's untimely death. Carfentanil's only officially recognized use is to sedate large zoo animals like moose, buffalo and elephants. It takes just two milligrams of Carfentanil to knock out a 2,000-pound African elephant, and the veterinarians who administer the drug use gloves and face masks to prevent exposure to it, because a dose the size of a grain of salt could kill a person – and may be lethal even when absorbed through the skin.
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Fatal overdoses down by 33% in B.C., but carfentanil deaths continue to spike
Carfentanil, an illicit drug more powerful than fentanyl, causing more deaths than ever.
Ordering Five Million Deaths Online
Fentanyl is scary enough. A dose of two milligrams — a few grains of the substance — can be fatal. But with carfentanil, 0.02 milligrams — hardly more than a speck of dust — could be enough to kill a person. That means that for $750, I could in theory purchase enough carfentanil for five million fatal overdoses.
China Blacklists Carfentanil, Closing A Deadly Loophole
Potent and addictive, fentanyl and carfentanil have played deadly roles in the opioid epidemic that has swept the U.S. and killed thousands of Americans in recent years, as the drugs have been mixed into heroin or used to create an alternative to that less powerful drug.
Everything You Should Know About Carfentanil, the Drug Even Deadlier Than Fentanyl
It's allegedly been used as a chemical weapon and is an elephant tranquilizer—now, it's being spiked into heroin.
Fentanyl & Carfentanil: Inside the Deadly World of Synthetic Opioids
“The side effect of carfentanil is death,” says Ohio Police Chief Tom Synan to Rolling Stone about the drug’s impact on human usage.
U.S. Authorities Pressed China for Action on Deadly Opioid
U.S. authorities have identified China as a major source for bootleg, laboratory-made versions of opioids including carfentanil that have made their way into the U.S., making China an important partner as law-enforcement authorities try to combat a worsening U.S. drug epidemic. Carfentanil is particularly worrisome because of its extreme potency: It is up to 100 times more potent than fentanyl, the powerful narcotic blamed for worsening the opioid crisis in recent years.
Heroin Epidemic's New Terror: Carfentanil
Carfentanil is the most potent commercial opioid in the world, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. It is 10,000 times stronger than morphine, and at least 100 times more powerful than its analog, the opioid fentanyl, which was linked to Prince's untimely death.
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