Heroin laced with carfentanil, a sedative used on large animals, has caused at least eight overdose deaths in Ohio, officials said.
The carfentanil-laced heroin may be responsible for five additional deaths as well in the Cincinnati area, Hamilton County coroner Dr. Lakshmi Kode Sammarco said on Tuesday.
Carfentanil, an analog of the drug fentanyl, is a synthetic opioid about 10,000 times more potent than morphine. It is often used to knock out large animals, such as elephants and not approved for human use.
Because dealers often cut heroin with fentanyl or carfentanil, many users might not know they are taking laced heroin.
The opioid epidemic spreading across the U.S. has hit Ohio particularly hard in recent years. In July, Hamilton County officials issued a warning that carfentanil had been found in local supplies of heroin after 35 overdoses across the state, including six deaths, were reported in a three-day period.
Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil told CNN local heroin supplies now consist of mostly carfentanil or fentanyl cut with heroin.
“It’s not heroin cut with anything else anymore, it’s synthetic [opioids] cut with heroin,” he said.
- The Man Who Thinks He Can Live Forever
- Why We Can't Get Over the Roman Empire
- The Final Season of Netflix’s Sex Education Sends Off a Beloved Cast in Style
- How Russia Is Recruiting Cubans to Fight in Ukraine
- The Case for Mediocrity
- Paul Hollywood Answers All of Your Questions About The Great British Baking Show
- How Canada and India's Relationship Crumbled
- Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time
