Monday, May 8, 2017

"Grey Death" - a new opioid combo sweeping US

It's being called "grey death" -- a new and dangerous opioid combo that underscores the ever-changing nature of synthetics.

Investigators have detected or recorded it in overdoses blamed in Alabama, Georgia and Ohio. The drug looks like concrete mix and varies in consistency from a hard, chunky material to a fine powder. The substance is a combination of several opioids including heroin, fentanyl and U-47700. Carfentanil has also been found.

Grey death ingredients and their concentrations are unknown to users, making it particularly lethal. Because these drugs can be absorbed through the skin, simply touching it puts users at risk.

Last year, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration listed U-47700 in the category of the most dangerous drugs it regulates, saying it was associated with dozens of fatalities. Some of the pills taken from Prince's estate after the musician's overdose death last year contained U-47700.


A typical new combination also being seen is heroin combined with 3-methylfentanyl, a more powerful version of fentanyl