What to Know
- Authorities fear carfentanil will be the next synthetic opioid used by drug traffickers creating painkillers in clandestine labs
- Carfentanil is 100 times more potent than fentanyl, the opioid that's been blamed for a recent surge in deadly overdoses
- The drug is extremely potent — a single dose of it has been blamed for the death of 170 people during a hostage crisis in 2002
Tune in for "State of Addiction," a special week-long investigative series beginning on Monday, Dec. 11 on News 4 New York.
Carfentanil is one of the strongest and most potent synthetic opioids out there. It's much more potent than fentanyl, a strong opioid that's become a major focus of law enforcement and health officials combatting a deadly surge in opioid-related deaths.
Carfentanil is 100 times more potent than fentanyl, which is up to 100 times more potent than morphine. That makes carfentanil an eye-popping 5,000 times more potent than heroin and 10,000 times more potent than morphine, according to American Addiction Centers, a national behavioral healthcare provider focused on addiction treatment.
Nina Lin/NBC
Carfentanil hasn't been approved for use in humans in any capacity and is most often found in veterinary medicine to sedate large animals like elephants, AAC says. The drug is so powerful that veterinarians wear protective gear so they don’t breathe in or absorb the powerful substance through their skin.
Unlike other morphine derivatives like heroin, carfentanil is too powerful for most people to develop an addiction, experts say. It’s so strong that users can overdose and die off a dose of carfentanilthe the size of a grain of salt.
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When fentanyl binds with opioid receptors in the brain, it causes an intense euphoria and drowsiness caused by an increase in dopamine levels. By comparison, carfentanil "rapidly binds to the opioid receptors in the brain, overwhelming neural chemistry and leading to an overdose symptoms almost immediately," according to AAC.
Source: nyc.gov; Map: Will Mathis/NBC
Carfentanil is so potent that the Buffalo Field Campaign at Yellowstone National Park warns humans not to eat the meat of bison that were sedated with carfentanil because it can cause an overdose, the Washington Post reported.
In 2002, Russian authorities tried to end a Chechen hostage crisis by using a weaponized chemical gas that contained a single dose of carfentanil. They ended up killing 170 people, including hostages.
And in Pennsylvania this year, the death of a 1-year-old girl was blamed on accidental exposure to the drug. In New Jersey, pills containing carfentanil and disguised as Oxycodone have been found.
Source: CDC; Map: Will Mathis/NBC
