US officials warn carfentanil - a drug 100 times more potent than fentanyl and used to knock out elephants - is driving a new spike in overdoses Carfentanil is 100 times stronger than fentanyl, which is 100 times stronger than heroin 2mg of fentanyl is lethal, whereas 0.2mg of carfentanil could kill an adult man
By Mia De Graaf Health Editor For Dailymail.com
Published: 14:15 BST, 17 April 2019 | Updated: 14:18 BST, 17 April 2019
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Carfentanil, fentanyl's even more lethal cousin, is now widespread in the US drug supply and driving an uptick in overdoses, US officials warn.
The drug is not new, but until now it had been on the fringes of the opioid epidemic.
In recent months, however, it has been implicated in a soaring number of overdoses, usually in people who unwittingly consumed traces of it in street-bought prescription pills like Oxycontin and Xanax.
While fentanyl - 100 times stronger than heroin - can kill an adult male with 2 milligrams, anything more than 0.2mg is lethal when it comes to