DEA Warns CA Of Drug Stronger Than Fentanyl: Opioid 'Unlike Any Other.'

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Drug Enforcement Administration officials are warning the public of a synthetic opioid that's stronger than fentanyl after seizing thousands of counterfeit pills containing the drug in the Bay Area.

Carfentanil is a synthetic opioid that has been around for decades and used by veterinarians to tranquilize large animals, University of San Francisco Pharmaceutical Chemistry Brian Shoichet told Patch.

It is about 200 to 300 times more potent than morphine and 10 times more potent than fentanyl, Shoichet said. It also binds to the mu-opioid receptors for longer than fentanyl.
"Those things add up to making it more potent," Shoichet said. "It's also easier to overdose on it because such tiny amounts are effective."

Another issue, according to Shoichet, is that because the drug is so potent and lasts a longer time, drugs such as Naxalone (Narcan), which are used to reverse overdoses, are not as effective.

"It's harder to drive off the receptors," Shoichet said. "It can be quite deadly," Shoichet said."

On Monday, DEA officials in San Francisco announced that they had seized 5,000 counterfeit pills laced with carfentanil.

Two milligrams of fentanyl can be deadly. But less than 0.2 milligrams of carfentanil can lead to an overdose, according to the DEA.

More than 500 people died from Carfentanil overdoses between January 2021 through June 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"This white, powdery drug closely resembles other substances like fentanyl or cocaine, but its danger far exceeds that of nearly any other opioid on the street," according to the DEA. "Carfentanil is a chilling reminder of how the opioid epidemic continues to evolve and introduces new threats at an alarming pace. "

DEA officials say they began to see a rise in carfentanil being used to increase the potency of other drugs, especially pills, over the last 10 years.

Exposure to the drug can lead to respiratory depression or arrest, drowsiness, sedation, clammy skin and pinpoint pupils, the DEA said.

People may feel the effects from the drug within minutes, and it can be deadly in just the same amount of time, "leaving little time for life-saving interventions," according to the DEA.

"Treating an overdose involving carfentanil is extremely difficult," according to the DEA. "Multiple, high doses of naloxone may be required, and even then, effective reversal of an overdose is not guaranteed."