DEA Warns Public and Law Enforcement About Risks of Opioid Carfentanil

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has issued a warning to the public and law enforcement about the risks of the synthetic opioid carfentanil, ABC News reports. Carfentanil is 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl.

Carfentanil has been linked to a significant number of overdose deaths in various parts of the country, the DEA said.

“Carfentanil is surfacing in more and more communities,” DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg said in a news release. “We see it on the streets, often disguised as heroin. It is crazy dangerous. Synthetics such as fentanyl and carfentanil can kill you. I hope our first responders – and the public – will read and heed our health and safety warning. These men and women have remarkably difficult jobs and we need them to be well and healthy.”