China
08:40, 19-Jun-2017
Heroin laced with elephant tranquilizers, the latest fatal opioid mix
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By CGTN's Hendrik Sybrandy
It's the latest front in the US war on drugs: Heroin laced with synthetic opioids. First it was fentanyl, which is 50 times more lethal than heroin. Now, it's carfentanil, which is nearly 100 times deadlier.
The drug combination is fueling a deadly epidemic.
The opioid epidemic has taken on a new, even more troubling dimension with a drug that's even more powerful than those of the past. Heroin is being mixed with carfentanil, a highly potent synthetic opioid that's used to sedate large animals, like elephants.
Drug users shoots heroin in a park in the South Bronx, in New York City, June 7, 2017. /VCG Photo
Drug users shoots heroin in a park in the South Bronx, in New York City, June 7, 2017. /VCG Photo
This drug combination is believed to have caused 60 overdoses across two US states in one 48-hour period last year. It's been linked to hundreds of deaths. It's relatively cheap for drug suppliers to produce, and offers users the lure of a stronger high.
Experts have said opioids, like heroin laced with carfentanil, often arrive in the US through the mail. It's very hard to screen packages. It’s very hard to find the labs where the drugs are made.