Pennsylvania health officials are sending out warnings about a new type of drug that could soon be making its way into the Keystone State.
Carfentanil, the drug that is causing the urgent concern, is reported to be 10,000 times more powerful than morphine and 100 times more powerful than fentanyl, according to officials from Pennsylvania Department of Health.
Carfentanil is a veterinary drug commonly used to tranquilize large animals and is not meant for use by humans. The drug can slow breathing and its power means even a tiny amount of the drug can prove lethal.
“Carfentanil is a veterinary drug used to sedate large animals and can be lethal to anyone who comes into contact with it – not just heroin users,” Secretary of Health Dr. Karen Murphy said in a release. “It’s essential that first responders, health professionals, and family members of heroin users educate themselves about carfentanil to avoid accidental overdoses. First responders are urged to utilize appropriate personal protective equipment when treating known or suspected heroin overdoses,” she said.
The drug is absorbed in a number of ways: Skin contact, inhalation, oral exposure or ingestion.
According to CNN, dealers are using carfentanil to cut their supply of heroin, stretching it and making what they deal more deadly. Many people taking it may not even realize it.
The drug has caused a rash of accidental deaths in Florida, Ohio and Indiana, CNN reported. The drug could soon come to Pennsylvania, state health officials worry.
Carfentanil is suspected of contributing to 174 overdoses in six days in Cincinnati.
As of late last week, no carfentanil overdoses have been reported in Pennsylvania.
“The combination of heroin and carfentanil is extremely dangerous,” said Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs Secretary Gary Tennis. “Given that such a small amount of carfentanil can be deadly and most users of heroin mixed with carfentanil do not realize that is what they are getting, the chances of overdose death are very high.”
NPR reported on Friday that, according to the DEA, much of the carfentanil is coming from overseas, mainly China.
In the NPR report, Hamilton County (Ohio) Health Commissioner Tim Ingram predicts that more synthetic opioids may become present and that preparations need to be made for them now.
