'Pink' presents potent danger
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
April 10, 2017
www.paducahsun.com/news/local/pink-presents-potent-danger/article_a58e2fbe-5b17-11e7-b535-10604b9f0f42.html
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
April 10, 2017
www.paducahsun.com/news/local/pink-presents-potent-danger/article_a58e2fbe-5b17-11e7-b535-10604b9f0f42.html
Mercy Regional EMS Director Jeremy Jeffrey had a blunt, no frills description of U-47700, one of the latest synthetic drugs to hit the streets.
"You either get high or you die," Jeffrey said.
Also known as U4 or "pink," U-47700 is a synthetic opioid that was initially designed in the mid 1970s as an alternative to morphine. The drug, however, was never tested on humans and never gained approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
Now it's being made in illegal clandestine labs in China and sold online in powder or pill form as the latest in designer drugs.
U4 is the substance law enforcement believes two Calvert City brothers may have overdosed on last month. One brother, Taylor May, 23, died, and the second brother, Karson May, 18, nearly died.
Two men have since been charged in connection with Taylor May's death for their alleged roles in supplying the brothers with the drug.
"The thing that makes this drug so frightening, so dangerous, is that we don't know enough about it," Jeffrey said. "Because it's not regulated, there's no consistency. One dose could have 2 milligrams and the next could have 10. One dose could be cut with something and the next could be pure. You just never know what you're actually getting."
Moreover, Jeffrey said "pink" presents a two-fold problem for first responders.
First, he said the drug can be absorbed through the skin, and if in powder form it can be inhaled, presenting a very real danger to EMS personnel.
"So if one of my guys comes in contact with it, they can be in the same shape as the patient," he said. "And if it's powdered and becomes airborne, and one of my guys inhale it, they could go down."
Second, Jeffrey said, is that Narcan or Naloxone, drugs used to reverse the effect of opioid overdoses, may not be as effective when attempting to save someone who has overdosed on U4.
"I have colleagues in the Louisville and Cincinnati areas saying it's taking six, seven, eight times the usual dose just to get someone who has overdosed on U4 breathing again," he said. "And even if you do get that person breathing again, the problem is you don't know how long that person has been deprived of oxygen or what kind of damage has been done to their brain."
Jeffrey said his colleagues in the Cincinnati area recently reported seeing as many as 22 suspected U4 overdoses in one night.
For Marshall County Sheriff Kevin Byars, the incident with the brothers was a frightening indicator that the many warnings his department has received over the last year regarding U4 had become reality.
"This is the first that we've seen of this substance in Marshall County," he said. "We knew about it because we get constant updates on possible dangers, and especially because of the heroin epidemic in northern Kentucky, but we had not seen it down here until this incident."
Over the past few years, Byars said there have been many warnings regarding synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and his department is taking precautions to protect its officers.
"If we suspect we're dealing with U4 — and it's the same if we're dealing with fentanyl or carfentanil — we've been directed to double bag, double glove, wear masks and don't even try to field test, but instead send it immediately to the lab," he said.
Additionally, Byars said his department has acquired 18 doses of naloxone for his deputies to carry. Although local law enforcement agencies said they have not encountered cases involving U4 in Paducah or McCracken County, that does not mean the drug is not in the area.
"We certainly believe that it's in our area — that there are people who have been using it in Paducah," said McCracken Det. Jesse Riddle.
"We haven't confirmed it yet, but we think there could be some other cases and overdoses that might be linked to this substance, but we can't be sure until we get confirmation from the lab."
As for the Paducah Police Department, Det. Ryan Conn said the department has not yet seen any confirmed cases involving U4, adding that some cases involving unidentified substances are still awaiting test results.
Although methamphetamine and prescription pills continue to be the most prevalent problems in the Paducah area, both detectives agreed that there has been a slight shift toward synthetic drugs.
"The No. 1 reason I think that we see so many synthetics in this area is that they're typically cheaper than street drugs," Riddle said.
"Oftentimes drug users can order these synthetic substances online, so they're easy to get. They're also harder to detect, so if the person has to do any type of drug testing ... a synthetic drug may not show up, and there's no presumptive field test for synthetic drugs if we encounter them in the field."
With the case of the May brothers fresh in his mind, Byars called for vigilance, asking that area residents stay alert.
"Folks just need to be very, very aware," he said. "This is an extremely dangerous drug. It's very powerful, very potent, and it can take you down almost immediately."
"You either get high or you die," Jeffrey said.
Also known as U4 or "pink," U-47700 is a synthetic opioid that was initially designed in the mid 1970s as an alternative to morphine. The drug, however, was never tested on humans and never gained approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
Now it's being made in illegal clandestine labs in China and sold online in powder or pill form as the latest in designer drugs.
U4 is the substance law enforcement believes two Calvert City brothers may have overdosed on last month. One brother, Taylor May, 23, died, and the second brother, Karson May, 18, nearly died.
Two men have since been charged in connection with Taylor May's death for their alleged roles in supplying the brothers with the drug.
"The thing that makes this drug so frightening, so dangerous, is that we don't know enough about it," Jeffrey said. "Because it's not regulated, there's no consistency. One dose could have 2 milligrams and the next could have 10. One dose could be cut with something and the next could be pure. You just never know what you're actually getting."
Moreover, Jeffrey said "pink" presents a two-fold problem for first responders.
First, he said the drug can be absorbed through the skin, and if in powder form it can be inhaled, presenting a very real danger to EMS personnel.
"So if one of my guys comes in contact with it, they can be in the same shape as the patient," he said. "And if it's powdered and becomes airborne, and one of my guys inhale it, they could go down."
Second, Jeffrey said, is that Narcan or Naloxone, drugs used to reverse the effect of opioid overdoses, may not be as effective when attempting to save someone who has overdosed on U4.
"I have colleagues in the Louisville and Cincinnati areas saying it's taking six, seven, eight times the usual dose just to get someone who has overdosed on U4 breathing again," he said. "And even if you do get that person breathing again, the problem is you don't know how long that person has been deprived of oxygen or what kind of damage has been done to their brain."
Jeffrey said his colleagues in the Cincinnati area recently reported seeing as many as 22 suspected U4 overdoses in one night.
For Marshall County Sheriff Kevin Byars, the incident with the brothers was a frightening indicator that the many warnings his department has received over the last year regarding U4 had become reality.
"This is the first that we've seen of this substance in Marshall County," he said. "We knew about it because we get constant updates on possible dangers, and especially because of the heroin epidemic in northern Kentucky, but we had not seen it down here until this incident."
Over the past few years, Byars said there have been many warnings regarding synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and his department is taking precautions to protect its officers.
"If we suspect we're dealing with U4 — and it's the same if we're dealing with fentanyl or carfentanil — we've been directed to double bag, double glove, wear masks and don't even try to field test, but instead send it immediately to the lab," he said.
Additionally, Byars said his department has acquired 18 doses of naloxone for his deputies to carry. Although local law enforcement agencies said they have not encountered cases involving U4 in Paducah or McCracken County, that does not mean the drug is not in the area.
"We certainly believe that it's in our area — that there are people who have been using it in Paducah," said McCracken Det. Jesse Riddle.
"We haven't confirmed it yet, but we think there could be some other cases and overdoses that might be linked to this substance, but we can't be sure until we get confirmation from the lab."
As for the Paducah Police Department, Det. Ryan Conn said the department has not yet seen any confirmed cases involving U4, adding that some cases involving unidentified substances are still awaiting test results.
Although methamphetamine and prescription pills continue to be the most prevalent problems in the Paducah area, both detectives agreed that there has been a slight shift toward synthetic drugs.
"The No. 1 reason I think that we see so many synthetics in this area is that they're typically cheaper than street drugs," Riddle said.
"Oftentimes drug users can order these synthetic substances online, so they're easy to get. They're also harder to detect, so if the person has to do any type of drug testing ... a synthetic drug may not show up, and there's no presumptive field test for synthetic drugs if we encounter them in the field."
With the case of the May brothers fresh in his mind, Byars called for vigilance, asking that area residents stay alert.
"Folks just need to be very, very aware," he said. "This is an extremely dangerous drug. It's very powerful, very potent, and it can take you down almost immediately."
