PHILADELPHIA COUNTY, Pa. — Rainbow fentanyl is causing health experts and government officials to remind the public to stay vigilant.
Patrick Trainor, supervisory special agent at the Philadelphia Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), said illicit fentanyl can be 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine.
“That could potentially be a fatal dose for you, so again I can understand it being attractive if you’re at a party and kids obviously experiment with drugs, but just understand here we’re talking about a drug that could potentially be fatal,” he said.
Rainbow fentanyl typically comes in the form of a blue pill with the letters “M” and “G” stamped on each side of the tablet which stands for 30 miligrams. New colors like red, yellow, pink, and green have emerged which is causing concern with officials.
Dr. Greg Swartzentruber, with the UPMC Center for Addiction Recovery, said opioids are meant to be used in a health care setting but are now being created in clandestine laboratories around the country which is increasing opioid overdoses and deaths.
“Fentanyl is an opioid, and other opioids that people might be familiar with are oxycodone, morphine, and heroin perhaps," he said. "Fentanyl, like other opioids, depresses the mental status and causes death by depressing the respiratory drive so that a person simply stops breathing."
Although experts are being proactive, the drug has not appeared in Pennsylvania. Local law enforcement like the Lancaster Police Department shared this release from the DEA’s office on their social media as a general precaution to the public; it referred to two Maryland men who were charged with trafficking it into Connecticut.
The Lancaster District Attorney's Office provided FOX43 with the following statement:
“Our office is aware of the warnings being issued by the DEA regarding the disturbing reports of fentanyl being confiscated in candy packaging. We have not had reports of any presence locally in Lancaster County, although parents and guardians should always be vigilant in checking for suspicious or adulterated candy handed out to their dependents at Halloween.”
The Philadelphia DEA also agrees that rainbow fentanyl will not be a problem for the Halloween season but says that the public must stay vigilant.
In Sept. 2021, the DEA launched the One Pill Can Kill Public Awareness Campaign to educate Americans about the dangers of fake pills.
If you or someone you know is experiencing substance abuse, call 1-800-622-HELP or TTY 1-800-487-4889. This is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service.