Authorities recently found an emerging and lethal new trend in the drug scene in the United States. According to experts, this new drug called W-18, a mixture of heroin and synthetic drug, and fentanyl were two of the addictive opioids linked to the rising rates of overdose deaths and drug problems across the nation.
What Is W-18?
W-18 is reportedly a synthetic and addictive opioid that is 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more powerful than fentanyl. The Sanford police warn it often appears as a white powder and is comparable to the drug used for large animals like elephants and bears.
Unfortunately, W-18 had not been studied in humans. In 2015, the drug was linked to 272 fatal overdoses in Maine, while 157 deaths were associated with heroin and/or non-pharmaceutical fentanyl and another 111 were caused by pharmaceutical opioids, WMTW 8 notes.
"This drug is deadly to humans and one dose could be immediately fatal," Sanford police said. "Most drug users do not always know the specific compounds they are using and would not know if this drug was present."
The Origin Of W-18
W-18 was reportedly one of the pain-relieving drugs invented by doctors in Alberta, Canada in the '80s. The group of drugs was labeled from W-1 to W-12 and W-18 was deemed to be most potent drug in the research, according to Pharmaceutical Processing.
The said drugs were patented in 1984 but considered to have no use outside of research, leading to the patent's expiry in 1992. In February, however, pharmacology professor Ed Knaus, who was one of the doctors who created W-18, was informed that the potent new drug had resurfaced.
The authorities also suspected that W-18 was being manufactured in China. Then, the drugs were being sold online to dealers with pill presses to make sellable drugs.
W-18 In Canada And The United States
W-18 has only surfaced in North America since 2013. But what's challenging to the authorities was the fact that the drug is still legal in Canada and the U.S. Fortunately, the federal government in Canada recently announced its plans to add W-18 to its list of controlled substances.
Fentanyl And Heroin
In addition to W-18, fentanyl and heroin are also found as culprits in the burgeoning drug problems and overdose deaths in the United States. In fact, medical leaders are reportedly urging doctors to seek alternative painkillers to replace fentanyl, a drug that is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more powerful than heroin, The Press Enterprise reports.
Fentanyl, along with other addictive opioids like heroin, were also associated to 28,647 drug overdose deaths in America in 2014, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals. The Drug Enforcement Administration also added that fentanyl's illicit and inexpensive powder form are often smuggled in the country by notorious Mexican drug cartels.
"For the cartels, it's their drug of choice," a Massachusetts lawyer told the New York Times. "They have figured out a way to make fentanyl more cheaply and easily than heroin and are manufacturing it at a record pace."
Meanwhile, the escalating rates of drug overdose deaths are also partly attributed to the mixture offentanyl with heroin, creating a lethal drug cocktail in illegal street sales. But it was the restriction on prescription painkillers like Oxycodone that have reportedly caused the rise in heroin and fentanyl abuse,Miami Herald learns.
Do you think the authorities can effective stop the resurgence of these potent and addictive opioids? Share your thoughts below and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.
