DEADPOOLx23
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2016
- Messages
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Welcome to Ohio & Reaearch Chems hitting the streets and the Schedule 1 list...
TOLEDO — A new and rare synthetic opioid is gaining popularity throughout the country and law enforcement agencies say it is too easy to obtain.
It is a drug so new to the streets that it doesn't even have a name.
Commonly sold as U-47700, officials say it can have up to eight times the effect of morphine; users are snorting it, shooting it up and taking it orally. And now, it has arrived in Northwest Ohio.
"It's one more drug, that's in the opiate family, that could easily be abused and lead to death," said Matt Rizzo, CEO of A Renewed Mind behavioral health.
The drug was first developed by a pharmaceutical company in the 1970s. It is somehow being recycled as a street narcotic.
The Lucas County Drug Abuse Response Team (D.A.R.T.) is keeping an eye on it, especially after the first case of its use in Lucas County.
"We've had one (death) in Lake County, Ohio and I believe there may be another issue going on somewhere else in Ohio," said Lt. Robert Chromik, who heads up D.A.R.T. "Then we've (in Lucas County) had one overdose, a survivor, which (surprised) the Lake County coroner."
Chromik says one of the biggest concerns is how easy it is for users to get.
"The guy told my officer, 'Well... I ordered it online. It came to my door so I used it.'"
So far, there are approximately 50 documented cases of U-47700 overdose deaths in the country.
Fortunately, Rizzo says, it hasn't become quite as widespread in Northwest Ohio just yet.
"Because heroin is still so readily available, we've not seen its prevalence yet," he said.
But if it does creep into more communities, Lt. Chromik says it could be devastating.
"This is not like the heroin or fentanyl mix, this is like a serial killer entering your body. You're done."
Last month, Gov. John Kasich signed an executive order classifying the drug as a Schedule I controlled substance. Ohio is one of just a handful of states that have made the narcotic illegal.
TOLEDO — A new and rare synthetic opioid is gaining popularity throughout the country and law enforcement agencies say it is too easy to obtain.
It is a drug so new to the streets that it doesn't even have a name.
Commonly sold as U-47700, officials say it can have up to eight times the effect of morphine; users are snorting it, shooting it up and taking it orally. And now, it has arrived in Northwest Ohio.
"It's one more drug, that's in the opiate family, that could easily be abused and lead to death," said Matt Rizzo, CEO of A Renewed Mind behavioral health.
The drug was first developed by a pharmaceutical company in the 1970s. It is somehow being recycled as a street narcotic.
The Lucas County Drug Abuse Response Team (D.A.R.T.) is keeping an eye on it, especially after the first case of its use in Lucas County.
"We've had one (death) in Lake County, Ohio and I believe there may be another issue going on somewhere else in Ohio," said Lt. Robert Chromik, who heads up D.A.R.T. "Then we've (in Lucas County) had one overdose, a survivor, which (surprised) the Lake County coroner."
Chromik says one of the biggest concerns is how easy it is for users to get.
"The guy told my officer, 'Well... I ordered it online. It came to my door so I used it.'"
So far, there are approximately 50 documented cases of U-47700 overdose deaths in the country.
Fortunately, Rizzo says, it hasn't become quite as widespread in Northwest Ohio just yet.
"Because heroin is still so readily available, we've not seen its prevalence yet," he said.
But if it does creep into more communities, Lt. Chromik says it could be devastating.
"This is not like the heroin or fentanyl mix, this is like a serial killer entering your body. You're done."
Last month, Gov. John Kasich signed an executive order classifying the drug as a Schedule I controlled substance. Ohio is one of just a handful of states that have made the narcotic illegal.
