Fentanyl-laced Heroin Kills Hundreds Of Addicts In USA

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Main Category: Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs
Article Date: 16 Jun 2006 - 16:00 PDT

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Fentanyl-laced herion has killed hundreds of addicts from Chicago to Philadelphia. Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic drug, a prescription painkiller. It is 80 to 100 times more powerful than morphine and can kill humans in small doses. Most likely, the fentanyl is not pharmaceutical grade - it is probably made in illicit labs. Just 125 micrograms is enough to kill an adult - the equivalent of a few grains of salt.

According to Chicago police, a West Side gang member has been arrested. The police say the arrest will hopefully lead them to the main supplier of the deadly heroin cocktail.

More than 100 alleged drug dealers have been arrested over the last two months in an attempt to get the main dealer. None of the arrests helped the investigators get any nearer to their objective. Hopefully, this West Side arrest will. The gang member was selling fentanyl-laced heroin, lab tests showed.

Police say the killer heroin is also being sold in Ohio. Over the last month three cases of heroin with fentanyl have been found.

Of more concern is that addicts are not heeding the police warnings. When laced heroin was found in one street corner, the police warned all the addicts in the area. Rather than move elsewhere, many stayed in the hope of getting some free giveaways.

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
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