Carfentanil is a synthetic opioid used in veterinary medicine to knock out huge animals like elephants and rhinoceroses for surgery. It's apparently 10,000 times more stronger than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl, of which it's an analog compound. While it's still uncommon on the street, the number of overdose deaths caused by it is increasing, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"Although rare, deaths with carfentanil detected increased approximately sevenfold, from 29 during January–June 2023 to 238 during January–June 2024; 37 states reported carfentanil detection," the CDC states in a new report.
In 2023, around 72,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States—about seven out of every ten—were believed to involve illegally-manufactured fentanyls (IMFs). In better news, "provisional data project a decrease in overdose deaths in 2023 compared with the number in 2022, the first decline since 2018; the decrease appears to have continued into 2024."
Previously:
• Naloxone implant detects and counters opioid overdoses
• Sonoma County District Attorney admits story of 6-year-old dying of fentanyl overdose in playground was fabricated
