ATLANTA — Local and federal law enforcement officers are warning about a recent dangerous opioid trend, rainbow fentanyl. It’s a drug that has shown up across the country in recent months.
Channel 2′s Blair Miller talked with the Drug Enforcement Administration about how serious it is. In addition to the danger of fentanyl, another issue is its rainbow color, which mimics candy.
Police say they’re seeing it in two forms: a powder that looks like side-walk chalk and brightly colored pills.
“We’ve been hearing about this for the last six months about it working its way up the West Coast,” the DEA agent says.
It’s not just the West Coast.
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The DEA says it has found it in 18- states nationwide so far and is worried it will move to more.
Officials believe the drug cartels are using the new method to sell fentanyl to make it look more like candy to children and young people.
Agents say the message to kids must be more than just to avoid drugs.
“Don’t take a pill unless it’s kind of came from your doctor, don’t take pills from friends, you have to talk to your kids about pills. That’s, that’s the threat,” the agent said.
Rainbow fentanyl adds to a drug that has negatively impacted people.
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According to the CDC, there were more than 71,238 overdoses of the drug last year, which resulted in people dying.
“Now what we’re seeing is that people have gotten so addicted to opioids they are seeking out fentanyl,” Stanford Professor of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine Anna Lembke said.
The DEA says that fentanyl is the deadliest drug in the country right now and it’s 50 times more potent than heroin.
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