Federal law enforcement has issued a warning to the public after police seized thousands of “rainbow fentanyl” pills, a brightly colored version of the highly toxic synthetic opioid, which authorities worry could be targeting children.
To date, rainbow fentanyl has reportedly shown up in Arizona and Oregon.
At the end of August, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Port Director Michael Humphries wrote on
Twitter that Arizona border agents had seized 6.5 pounds of methamphetamine, almost 186,000 blue fentanyl pills, and 47,000 rainbow-colored pills from a floor compartment of a vehicle at the port of Nogalez.
Rainbow fentanyl resembles hard candy, or in some cases, sidewalk chalk.
“My first thought was, why are they making these look like a bag of candy? This could be trying to target younger users,” Humphries
told Fox 13 News.
The Department of Justice also issued a
public warning in Oregon after two “notable seizures” of rainbow fentanyl in the Portland metro area at the end of August.
According to the statement, fentanyl, which is 30 to 50 times more powerful than heroin, and 80 to 100 times more powerful than morphine, is responsible for hundreds of fatal overdoses in the United States every day.
You may have heard of it by its street names: Apace, China Girl, China Town, China White, Dance Fever, Goodfellas, Great Bear, He-Man, Poison, and Tango & Cash.
In May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
reported 107,000 fatal drug overdoses in 2021 in the United States, an increase of almost 15 percent from 2020. Synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl) only accounted for more than three-quarters of these deaths.
Steve Mygrant, chief of the Narcotics and Criminal Enterprises Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon, claimed fentanyl is commonly disguised in fake prescription pills.
Why is Fentanyl So Deadly?
Most people using fentanyl assume that they are given heroin and mix it with other drugs or overdose.Besides, illegal drug producers mix fentanyl with other substances to make it cheaper, which make it stronger, more addictive, and more dangerous, too. Mexico is known for illicit fentanyl.
The most common side effects of fentanyl include drowsiness, vomiting, urinary retention, confusion, respiratory depression, and pupillary constriction. Among these, respiratory depression is the most responsible for deaths related to fentanyl overdose. Fentanyl makes changes in the brain and nervous system to control pain. That will lead to depression of the central nervous system in large doses. “If you find or come in contact with pills not dispersed by a licensed pharmacist, assume they are fake and potentially lethal. Fake pills are indistinguishable from real pills,” he
advised.
Seattle Field Division’s DEA acting special agent in charge, Jacob D. Galvan, insisted that fentanyl is the “deadliest drug threat we face today.”
He explained that whatever shape, color, or form it’s in, as little as two milligrams of the drug is enough to kill a person.
“American lives are at stake,” he said.
