A New Drug Called Pink Has Been Banned By The Feds, Why Is This Synthetic Opiate So Dangerous?
A new, powerful synthetic opiate known as pink or pinky has been banned under federal law as the number of deaths linked to the chemical continues to rise.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced on Thursday that pink is set to be categorized as a Schedule 1 drug effective on Monday, November 14. The temporary ban on pink would last for two years. Meanwhile, the DEA has said it would conduct further investigation into the drug to determine if the temporary ban should be extended when the two-year-ban elapses, according to NBC News.
The DEA’s move effectively puts pink in the same category as other addictive drugs with no medical use like LSD and ecstasy. Pink is several times more potent than heroin and morphine. The drug is said to be extremely dangerous, even in small amounts. Up to 46 deaths have been linked to pink usage in the U.S.
Among these deaths are two teenagers – Ryan Ainsworth and Grant Seaver – who died days apart from each other in Utah in September after taking pink. Last month, another death was recorded in Detroit after a 19-year-old man injected himself with the drug, CNN reported.
Park City Police confirm, 2 teen friends who died in September, took synthetic drug known as "pink." Their warnings to parents: @KSL5TV 5pm. pic.twitter.com/e36XbaHL7P
— Mike Anderson (@mikeandersonKSL) November 3, 2016
It is reportedly easy to buy Pink, which is known to chemists as U-47700, cheaply from countries like China as the drug is offered for sale on the dark web. In both cases mentioned above, the drug was ordered online. The drug can be purchased for as low as $40 online, the Inquisitr reported.
With the rise in the abuse of opioids in the U.S., and the cheap and accessible nature of the drug, the DEA is concerned that pink could lead to more deaths in the country.
Pink comes in various forms: as a white power, liquefied in a nasal inhaler, or pressed into pills. It is sometimes mixed with other drugs. Earlier this year, law enforcement officers in Ohio seized hundreds of blue pills thought to be oxycodone. However, after conducting tests, it was found that the blue pills contained pink or U-47700. According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report on U-47700, there have been cases of people (usually those who use opiates illegally) consuming pink under the impression that it is something else.
Since pink is made in illegal labs in foreign countries, the DEA has warned that the purity and quality of the chemical are highly questionable.
“It’s like the wild west out there,” Dr. Joshua Stephany, the medical examiner for Orange and Osceola counties told WESH. “Really, you don’t know what you’re getting, so every time you buy something, it’s like Russian roulette.”
It's a designer drug stronger than heroin & for sale online. Only on @fox5dc 10/11: a young man's deadly overdose on pink heroin in the DMV pic.twitter.com/y0d2YAF52j
— Lindsay Watts (@LindsayAWatts) October 22, 2016
U-47700 was first manufactured by pharmaceutical company Upjohn in the 1970s as a more powerful substitute for morphine. However, it was never tested on humans. According to CNN, foreign drug makers started creating the drug after digging up the formula from patent filings, academic journals, and media reports.
While pink is known to cause euphoria, it has disturbing side effects including causing respiratory problems. While the name of the drug is thought to come from the pink-purple tinge it has when it is being processed, the name is also related to the way the drug is ingested. The powder is usually placed on the pinky finger and inhaled.
Before the DEA’s ban, Pink or U-47700 had been outlawed in several states in the U.S. including Georgia, Ohio, Wyoming, and Florida. Authorities in European countries like Sweden and Finland have also enacted laws to make the possession and use of pink illegal.
“The broad availability of the drug through the Internet, the mode of use either being marketed as a heroin or an oxycodone substitute, as itself or in combination with other drugs, the many reports of seizures in Europe and North America, the reports of opiate-like adverse effects and associated fatalities, suggests that U-47700 is a public health menace,” the WHO report said.
[Featured Image by Henry Guttmann/Getty Images]
