Recently, the New York City Health Department discovered new drugs such as the elephant tranquilizer carfentanil and the veterinary sedative medetomidine in street drugs. Congressman Ritchie Torres from the Bronx has written to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) urging them to take strict actions to crack down on these substances.
Between March and June this year, the Health Department found traces of carfentanil in 8 samples of opioid drugs, and in late June, medetomidine was discovered in one sample. The medetomidine sample was collected in Torres’ Bronx district. According to the New York Post, Torres wrote to DEA Director Anne Milgram inquiring whether the agency has already taken or will take action to cut off the supply chain of these new drugs and prevent their further spread in New York City.
Torres pointed out in his letter that even small amounts of carfentanil can escalate the already highly deadly drug crisis. With carfentanil continuing to appear on the streets of New York City unabated, it poses a significant threat to public safety and health. He requested the DEA to explain the enforcement efforts undertaken to combat the carfentanil supply chain.
Both carfentanil and medetomidine contain fentanyl, but with much stronger potency, tens to hundreds of times more powerful. Carfentanil is a synthetic opioid drug that can be lethal with just a dose equivalent to about ten grains of table salt.
The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner stated that between January and June, carfentanil was detected in at least 7 cases of fatal drug overdoses, compared to only 3 cases for the entire previous year. Medetomidine poses even more challenges because its effects are similar to opioids, but it cannot be treated with the opioid antidote naloxone. Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids produced in China have largely replaced traditional drugs like heroin. Over the past decade, opioid overdose deaths in the United States have doubled.
With the rise of these potent and dangerous substances in the illicit drug market, the efforts to combat their distribution and usage are crucial in protecting public health and safety in New York City and beyond.