Carfentanil: A New and Often Unrecognized Threat

Abstract

Law enforcement officers, whether working the streets or on narcotic detail, and even those who operate in strike teams, face a new danger from an old drug: carfentanil. Drug dealers seeking to increase profits cut this cheap synthetic drug into expensive heroin, providing an extreme high. As a potent synthetic opioid narcotic, it is finding its way to the streets of the United States and can pose a threat to life for law enforcement, first responders, and medical examiners.