Over the past few weeks, Cincinnati has made headlines for the number of drug overdoses occurring within Hamilton County. While many of these overdoses have been attributed to heroin, a number of them have been caused by something even more dangerous: carfentanil.
Carfentanil is the world's most powerful commercial opioid, and is 100 times more potent than the similar drug fentanyl, which is a controlled prescription painkiller, and is 50 times stronger than heroin. Carfentanil is an animal tranquilizer that was never intended for human use, and isn't widely popular among American veterinarians or zoos.
So why are people using it? How is it getting to the United States?
Read the full story, "How America Gets Its Deadliest New Drug," on
Fast Company's website.
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