North Carolina already suffers from one of the worst opioid epidemics in the United States. Now, a deadly new mix of drugs is making a lethal substance even more dangerous.
Carfentanil – a type of fentanyl used to tranquilize large animals – has been identified as a key ingredient in drug mixes that contain heroin or other opioids. Ten thousand times more powerful than morphine, and a hundred times more potent than deadly fentanyl, carfentanil is only legal for veterinary use. Its nickname – “the elephant tranquilizer” – suggests how unfit it is for human consumption.
This substance has been linked to at least 33 drug-related deaths around the state this past year.
Grim statistics
If it runs rampant, carfentanil might aggravate already grim projections about the opioid crisis in North Carolina. Heroin, fentanyl, and their related analogs caused more than half of local opioid deaths in 2016 (58.4%). This number is expected to shoot to 90% by 2021 if the epidemic is not properly addressed. Read more from this article: http://bit.ly/2FiV1El
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