Acetylfentanyl is a derivative of the powerful pain-killing drug fentanyl. It contains an acetyl group in place of fentanyl鈥檚 propionyl group. Both drugs were developed in the late 1980s; but acetylfentanyl, a 鈥渄esigner drug鈥�, was not produced for 鈥渞ecreational鈥� use until earlier this year.
Canadian police discovered that large amounts of acetylfentanyl were being distributed in Canada and the northeast United States. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention subsequently issued a health alert because of 14 overdose deaths from acetylfentanyl in Rhode Island. Pennsylvania鈥檚 drug control department later reported the occurrence of 50 fatal overdoses in that state.
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