The “Reemergence” of Carfentanil

AVOID AT ALL COST –

Dec. 6, 2024 – …for the most part fentanyl analogs are sometimes a bit more potent than fentanyl and sometimes a bit less, which is a boring explanation with no shock value. For that you’d want to focus on the highest-potency analog identified so far, which is why everyone likes talking about carfentanil.

On December 5, researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published an analysis of overdose mortality data between 2021 and 2024.

“Carfentanil, a fentanyl analog 100 times more potent than fentanyl, has reemerged in the US drug supply,” the authors wrote. “[R]ecent sharp increases in overdose deaths with carfentanil detected, although rare, highlight the ever-changing illegal drug supply and threaten progress in reducing overdose deaths.”

Carfentanil was detected in 513 overdose deaths in the United States since 2021, with a sharper increase that’s more recent. The data show that in the first half of 2023, there were 29 overdose deaths involving carfentanil. In the first half of 2024, there were 238. Between January 2023 and June 2024, 37 states reported at least one overdose death where carfentanil was detected.