A deadly new synthetic opioid called furanyl fentanyl is being called more potent than heroin and harder to detect. The drug has already lead to overdoses in the state and experts say it could claim more if something isn’t done.
Dr. Craig Allen of the Rushford Center treats people with substance abuse problems and he said furanyl fentanyl is even more dangerous than regular fentanyl.
"The medical examiner says has been involved in a number of deaths in Connecticut and we're going to continue to see these numbers go higher and higher," Allen said.
He said when people are hooked on synthetic opioids like furanyl fentanyl, treatment is difficult.
“They're not responding to our normal protocol when we try to get someone off of these powerful drugs like in our detox unit, so we've had to adjust our detox program at our center in Middletown to use higher doses of methadone which is one of the medications we used to detox.”
Treatment isn’t the only issue. According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, fentanyl played a role in 188 of 729 accidental overdose deaths in Connecticut in 2015.
Furanyl fentanyl is a new compound and medical experts believe it could be as much as 30 to 50 times more potent than other similar drugs.
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According to the DEA, fentanyl may be mixed with white powder heroin or found in pill form.
The DEA said it found 128 confirmed furanyl fentanyl-related deaths from 2015-2016 nationwide, and they’ve now made it a Schedule 1 drug. But that doesn’t stop use – intentional or not.
“Sometimes people know they're getting fentanyl sometimes people don't know they're getting fentanyl,” Allen said.
