Carfentanil Surge: A New Drug Crisis

0:00It's April 18th. This is Teppabay News Today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the story. Carfrentenil is back in the U.S. drug supply and is no joke. This synthetic opioid is 100 times stronger than fentanyl and 10,000 times. More potent than morphine. Just a speck smaller than a grain of salt can kill you outright according to federal officials. It first hit the streets about a decade ago, but faded after China banded amid overdose spikes. Turns out, this stuff was even researched as a chemical weapon, like when Russian forces deported against rebels back in 2002. Folks are sounding the alarm hard. Experts warn it's like facing a whole new beast beyond fentanyl and even several hits of naloxone, the overdose. Reversal drug might not cut it against this monster. Seasures tell the story. The Drug Enforcement Administration found it 1,400 times in drug busts this year through 20. Up from just 54 in 2022 and 145 in 2023.

1:02Overdose deaths linked to it nearly tripled last year, to 413 across 42 states and DC, with massive halls like 600, 28,000 pills in LA, last October, and over 50,000 fakes in Washington state the month before. Mexican cartels seem to be mixing it in to punch up weaker fentanyl after China's crackdowns on key ingredients, so law enforcement's revving up while. Please brace for worse, stay vigilant out there.