Elephant Tranquilizer Cut Into Cocaine Linked To Several Overdose Deaths

[To-Whose-Benefit?]

dailycaller
Steve Birr
Vice Reporter
2:39 PM 02/04/2018

[excerpt]

http://dailycaller.com/2018/02/04/elephant-tranquilizer-cut-into-cocaine-linked-to-several-overdose-deaths/

Officials in a Pennsylvania county are warning the region that a deadly opiate-based elephant tranquilizer is possibly being cut into cocaine supplies.

Washington County District Attorney Eugene Vittone issued an alert Thursday night that two January overdose cases turned up positive for cocaine and carfentanil, a synthetic opioid roughly 10,000 times more powerful than morphine. County Coroner Tim Warco said the tests cannot determine if the cocaine and carfentanil ingested were mixed or taken separately, reports Trib Live.

Warco suspects a third overdose case from January will also show carfentanil ingestion when a final toxicology report is made. In neighboring Westmoreland County, where 30 overdose deaths were attributed to carfentanil in 2017, officials say overdoses linked to the substance increased toward the end of the year.

[mountaineer]

Wow. This county is barely 2 miles from us. I had heard the word carfentanil but didn't appreciate how dangerous it is.

[Smokin Joe]

Wow. This county is barely 2 miles from us. I had heard the word carfentanil but didn't appreciate how dangerous it is.

I recall reading a cop in Ohio brushed the spilled powder off his uniform, inhaled some, and it took four doses of Narcan to keep him alive. http://fox6now.com/2017/05/15/police-officer-accidentally-overdoses-after-drug-arrest-in-ohio/ That was just Fentanyl. Gram for gram, carfentanyl is 100 times as potent.

[To-Whose-Benefit?]

I recall reading a cop in Ohio brushed the spilled powder off his uniform, inhaled some, and it took four doses of Narcan to keep him alive. http://fox6now.com/2017/05/15/police-officer-accidentally-overdoses-after-drug-arrest-in-ohio/ That was just Fentanyl. Gram for gram, carfentanyl is 100 times as potent.

If you're gonna use it to put a 10,000 to 16,000 lb animal down, yeah.

[Smokin Joe]

If you're gonna use it to put a 10,000 to 16,000 lb animal down, yeah.

Note to self: Do NOT blow the horn at the elephants....

[Sanguine]

I wonder how they're getting it?  You would think the list of carfentanyl manufacturers, suppliers and dispensers would be pretty small. 

[To-Whose-Benefit?]

I wonder how they're getting it?  You would think the list of carfentanyl manufacturers, suppliers and dispensers would be pretty small.

Gotta ask yourself where, what part of the world, do they have elephants.

Look at the Governments of those countries.

Probably get all you want and relatively cheap too, for not much more than asking.

[Smokin Joe]

I wonder how they're getting it?  You would think the list of carfentanyl manufacturers, suppliers and dispensers would be pretty small.

It is a synthetic opioid, an analog of fentanyl which has no clinical use because of its strength. As such, it hasn't hit the abuse radar until relatively recently, and isn't regulated like clinical drugs. It is, most notably, an animal tranquilizer for very large animals.
Clinically, because it is 10,000 times as potent as heroin, the chance of a lethal outcome with a very small dose  renders it useless... however, mixing half a gram with a lot of manitol or other substance makes tens of thousands of doses of ersatz product with a huge street value. If that isn't done right, someone is going to die.

Since veterinary medicines are not regulated the same way, nor intended for human consumption (look at veterinary antibiotics, for instance), most veterinary medicine can be purchased with relatively few strings attached or hoops to jump through.

https://www.opiates.com/carfentanil-linked-heroin-overdoses/

[Sanguine]

It is a synthetic opioid, an analog of fentanyl which has no clinical use because of its strength. As such, it hasn't hit the abuse radar until relatively recently, and isn't regulated like clinical drugs. It is, most notably, an animal tranquilizer for very large animals.
Clinically, because it is 10,000 times as potent as heroin, the chance of a lethal outcome with a very small dose  renders it useless... however, mixing half a gram with a lot of manitol or other substance makes tens of thousands of doses of ersatz product with a huge street value. If that isn't done right, someone is going to die.

Since veterinary medicines are not regulated the same way, nor intended for human consumption (look at veterinary antibiotics, for instance), most veterinary medicine can be purchased with relatively few strings attached or hoops to jump through.

https://www.opiates.com/carfentanil-linked-heroin-overdoses/

Thanks, that helps.  I'm guessing that those cutting it aren't necessarily good with math or are particularly worried about the health of their clients.

[Smokin Joe]

Thanks, that helps.  I'm guessing that those cutting it aren't necessarily good with math or are particularly worried about the health of their clients.

Not dealing with the best and the brightest in the Chemistry department, there. Sure, they want to keep the heat off by not having a bunch of dead folks lying around, but a few hot loads out there would be a test run or a hit. Killing off the clients is bad for business....