Carfentanil is a much more powerful opioid analgesic than fentanyl, which is mainly used for veterinary purposes, as it is used on large animals such as bears and elephants. However, its use as a drug in humans was recently detected in the United States. This led to an international alert, according to the director of the Youth Integration Center (CIJ), Ramiro Vélez.
As happened with crystal meth and later with fentanyl, the drug could reach Mexico and its consumption could begin first in border states such as Chihuahua. Although this could take years, Vélez considered that prevention and being alert to these types of alerts is important.
“The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), which is a United Nations (UN) agency for drug and crime control, is currently issuing two alerts. One of them is carfentanil, which is a more potent substance than fentanyl. In fact, it is a veterinary analgesic that has very powerful depressant properties and has already caused many deaths from overdose in the United States,” he said.
Vélez said that while fentanyl itself has brought about a health crisis in the neighboring country to the north, whose wake has already reached Mexico, in terms of the number of deaths from overdose, carfentanil would increase, as well as its effects, the probability of losing one’s life when consuming it. “When a human uses even a very small amount of carfentanil, they die from respiratory arrest,” he said.
These deaths prompted an international alert. Also, in New York State alone, there is an alert for the combination of this drug, along with two others to obtain a powerful drug known as Superman. This is because carfentanil is being combined with fentanyl and PMMA, which is a methamphetamine that has stimulant and hallucinogenic properties.
Although this alert does not exist in Mexico, in reference to the combination of the three, nor has it been replicated internationally like the particular use of carfentanil, Vélez considered that it is important to take the necessary precautions, as happened when they warned about the health crisis brought by fentanyl.
“There are no alerts on the subject of this substance as there are in Sisvea, which is the Surveillance System
Epidemiological of Addictions. That is to say, no case has been reported in Mexico, but we always have to be alert. Let us remember that every year more than 400 new substances of abuse appear and that is why we have to be constantly updating ourselves,” he added.
He said that substances such as PMMA produce: “A state of psychosis that no longer lasts 73 days of intoxication, it can even last months and many of these patients who consume this type of substances no longer have full consciousness or contact with reality.”
The director of the CIJ explained that the use of carfentanil has not been detected anywhere in the country, but as with fentanyl or drugs such as methamphetamine, it could take an estimated 4 to 6 years if the case occurs.
“Unfortunately, just like it was with fentanyl, we were warning in the early 2000s about what was going to happen with crystal meth, and now we have a pretty serious problem with crystal meth. This is progressing and the majority of carfentanil consumers are in the United States, which is our neighbor, so unfortunately and most likely it will reach us here,” he said.
He recalled that Chihuahua and Juarez already report many cases of fentanyl, especially of consumption without being aware of it, and pointed out the importance of warning that in Mexico fentanyl is now used to cut drugs such as crystal, methamphetamine, heroin, and even cocaine powder. “People do not know that they are consuming fentanyl. That is a very latent problem that we have in Chihuahua and that in many cases they seek with the combination to increase the addictive power of the substance to have captive clients more quickly but at the cost of the mental health of users and many lives,” he commented.
“No cases have been reported in Mexico, but we always have to be alert. Every year, more than 400 new substances of abuse appear and that is why we have to be constantly updating them.”
Ramiro Vélez Director of the Youth Integration Center
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