What Is Gray Death? The Killer Drug Cocktail Is Latest Battle in War Against Opioids

“We’ve not yet seen a national proliferation of the ‘gray death’ substance,” the DEA spokesman wrote. how to taper off prozac 10mg If you’re unsure where to start, talking to a therapist about your addiction is a good place. A therapist can help you unpack the triggers driving you to do drugs, like Gray Death. They can also help you find healthier coping mechanisms for those triggers. If you or someone you know is struggling with drug abuse or addiction, seek professional help. Mixing them with other chemicals only amplifies the risk and makes them even more harmful, if not deadly.

In Ohio, the coroner’s office serving the Cincinnati area says a similar compound has been coming in for months. The Ohio attorney general’s office has analyzed eight samples matching the gray death mixture from around the state. The combo is just the latest in the trend of heroin mixed with other opioids, such as fentanyl, that has been around for a few years. In Ohio, the coroner’s office serving the Cincinnati area says a similar compound has been coming in for months. The Ohio attorney general ‘s office has analyzed eight samples matching the gray death mixture from around the state.

How Deadly is Gray Death?

Mix in the powerful painkiller fentanyl, which has 50 times more punch. Add a dash of carfentanil, which is an animal tranquilizer 100 times more powerful than fentanyl and made to be used on tigers and elephants. If someone you know is exhibiting signs of an overdose, seek emergency medical attention immediately. You can also combine treatment options, which can help you feel stronger along the road to recovery. If someone you’re with shows any of the above signs, it can indicate a drug overdose.

1. This dangerous street drug is so named because of its ashen pallor.
2. A typical new combination he’s seeing is heroin combined with 3-methylfentanyl, a more powerful version of fentanyl, said Webber, 25.
3. In Ohio, the coroner’s office serving the Cincinnati area says a similar compound has been coming in for months.
4. When testing for ingested substances, gray death isn’t always identified.
5. Drug Enforcement Agency says is 80 to 100 times stronger than heroin.

Effects

In addition, because these strong drugs can be absorbed through the skin, simply touching the powder puts users at risk, she said. If you or someone you know struggles with drug abuse or addiction, reach out for help. Treatment options are available, so you don’t need to navigate the road to recovery alone. Trying to ditch drug use without the help of medical professionals can also be dangerous.

Some reports have noted gray death could be resistant to naloxone (Narcan), although controlled clinical studies are not available. group activities for substance abuse recovery First responders should immediately call 911 or other emergency personnel. Join 40,000+ People Who Receive Our Newsletter Get valuable resources on addiction, recovery, wellness, and our treatments delivered directly to your inbox.

What Is Gray Death? The Killer Drug Cocktail Is Latest Battle in War Against Opioids

A local police department in Louisiana is warning people about a potentially lethal drug combination called “gray death” — a substance so powerful, they warn you shouldn’t even touch it. St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana is alerting the public about the drug in wake of recent arrests. However, other people who don’t abuse substances can also inadvertently become victims—police officers and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) put their lives at risk when responding to an overdose call for help. While the primary victims of gray death are opioid/opiate addicts (and their loved ones), these aren’t the only people affected by the existence of gray death on our streets. Heroin users have increasingly become the hardest hit of all as manufacturers adulterate the substance with additional substances.

Symptoms of gray death overdose include a faded or sweaty face, a languid body, grunting noises, purplish or bluish lips, shallow breathing, irregular pulse, and speech difficulties4. Multiple doses of the opioid-reversing drug naloxone (Narcan) may be needed to treat gray death overdose. It is frequently used to combat respiratory problems brought on by opioid overdose. When using buprenorphine and naloxone to treat overdoses of strong narcotics from the fentanyl group, problems may frequently develop. The action of naloxone is hindered by opioids’ higher affinity for the µ-opioid receptor5.

Investigators who nicknamed the street mixture have detected it or recorded overdoses blamed on it in Alabama, Georgia and Ohio. The drug looks like concrete mix and varies in consistency from a hard, chunky material to a fine powder. Investigators who nicknamed the mixture have detected it or recorded overdoses blamed on it in Alabama, Georgia and Ohio. However, other substances such as cocaine have also been laced with opioids that resulted in illness and death. Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is a drug used to help immediately remove what percentage of homeless are mentally ill or addicted the toxic levels of a substance from an overdosing person’s body.

Gray death, sometimes also known as ‘Grey Death,’ can be gray or ashen in color and resemble concrete mixing powder. Gray death ingredients and their concentrations are unknown to users, making it particularly lethal, Kilcrease said. And because these strong drugs can be absorbed through the skin, simply touching the powder puts users at risk, she said.

“Every time you shoot up you’re literally playing Russian roulette with your life.” Fentanyl-related deaths spiked so high in Ohio in 2015 that state health officials asked the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to send scientists to help address the problem. Gray death has a much higher potency than heroin, according to a bulletin issued by the Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. When added to Gray Death, it creates as lethal a combo as any out there, according to Baer.

The dangers of this type of treatment when used for a gray death overdose include the potential requirement for as many as 10 doses of naloxone, which the average person or first responder may not be equipped with. Naloxone when used to help reverse any substance overdose also presents aggravated potential for precipitated withdrawal. These deadly combinations are becoming a hallmark of the heroin and opioid epidemic, which the government says resulted in 33,000 fatal overdoses nationally in 2015. In Ohio, a record 3,050 people died of drug overdoses last year, most the result of opioid painkillers or their relative, heroin. In 2017, a new illicit drug showed up on the streets—the gray death. Illicit use and distribution of heroin with fentanyl spiked around the same time, and while this adulterated substance’s risks are widely known, the gray death drug isn’t as understood.

Gray death is a street name or a slang term that is frequently used to describe a mixture of illegal drugs – mainly synthetic opioids and other synthetic narcotics. Psychoactive components such as heroin, fentanyl, or U (an extremely strong synthetic opioid painkiller) are commonly found in drug cocktails. Occasionally, it is in combination with other substances like cocaine, amphetamines, or other synthetic designer drugs. This mixture resembles concrete powder or tiny rocks in appearance. It can be injected intravenously, processed into a fine powder, snorted intranasally, smoked, or consumed orally in tablet form1. The adverse effects of gray death can be mild to severe because no two batches are exactly the same in composition.