New opioid mix nicknamed ‘gray death’ blamed for multiple overdoses in the US
“Gray death’, a new opioid mix, is being blamed for several US overdoses
The combo is made up of several narcotics, such as heroin and fentanyl, and synthetic opioid U-47700
Overdoses have been reported in Alabama, Georgia and Ohio
It’s the latest in a trend of lacing heroin with other drugs and could add to the rising number of overdose deaths, which hit more than 50,000 in 2016
By MARY KEKATOS
DAILYMAIL.COM
7 May 2017
A new and dangerous opioid mix is being blamed for a rise of overdoses in the US.
Nicknamed ‘gray death’, the drug resembles a concrete mix and varies in consistency from a hard, chunky material to a fine powder.
Investigators who nicknamed the mixture have detected it or recorded overdoses attributed to it in Alabama, Georgia and Ohio.
The substance is a combination of several opioids including heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil – sometimes used to tranquilize large animals such as elephants – and a synthetic opioid called U-47700.
‘Gray death is one of the scariest combinations that I have ever seen in nearly 20 years of forensic chemistry drug analysis,’ said Deneen Kilcrease, manager of the chemistry section at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
According to Kilcrease, users often don’t know gray death ingredients and their concentrations, making it particularly lethal.
Additionally, because the drugs can be absorbed through the skin, just touching the powder puts users at risk.
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