VICE: Tessa Stuart
The Drug Enforcement Administration declared on Friday that it would temporarily reassign acetyl fentanyl — commonly known as "fake heroin" — as a Schedule I drug, a designation reserved for the most dangerous substances.
In a statement, the DEA said the move was "necessary to avoid an imminent hazard to the public safety." The drug, which is up to 15 times stronger than heroin, has been blamed for at least 39 overdose deaths since it was first identified by a government laboratory two years ago. But, the DEA says, reports of emergency room admissions due to overdoses are probably underreported because it's so hard to differentiate from heroin.
Before the DEA's declaration, the drug existed in something of a legal grey area: It was considered illicit, but it was still technically legal as long as it bore a label that read, "Not for human consumption." By rescheduling it, the government has changed that.
According to the DEA, chemically similar drugs emerged on the West Coast where they were "trafficked and abused" in the late 1970s and 1980s. The acetyl fentanyl known today was first identified in Maine in 2013. Reports of the drug nearly quadrupled the following year, as it popped up in states from Louisiana to North Dakota to Washington.
cont: https://news.vice.com/article/lethally-potent-fake-heroin-no-longer-enjoys-a-legal-loophole
The Drug Enforcement Administration declared on Friday that it would temporarily reassign acetyl fentanyl — commonly known as "fake heroin" — as a Schedule I drug, a designation reserved for the most dangerous substances.
In a statement, the DEA said the move was "necessary to avoid an imminent hazard to the public safety." The drug, which is up to 15 times stronger than heroin, has been blamed for at least 39 overdose deaths since it was first identified by a government laboratory two years ago. But, the DEA says, reports of emergency room admissions due to overdoses are probably underreported because it's so hard to differentiate from heroin.
Before the DEA's declaration, the drug existed in something of a legal grey area: It was considered illicit, but it was still technically legal as long as it bore a label that read, "Not for human consumption." By rescheduling it, the government has changed that.
According to the DEA, chemically similar drugs emerged on the West Coast where they were "trafficked and abused" in the late 1970s and 1980s. The acetyl fentanyl known today was first identified in Maine in 2013. Reports of the drug nearly quadrupled the following year, as it popped up in states from Louisiana to North Dakota to Washington.
cont: https://news.vice.com/article/lethally-potent-fake-heroin-no-longer-enjoys-a-legal-loophole
