Carfentanil, sometimes called carfentanyl or by the brand name Wildnil, is a drug that is the synthetic version of fentanyl and it is an extremely powerful opioid. This specific fentanyl analog is not approved in the USA for use in humans but it is allowed in small quantities for zoo veterinarians and others who may need to sedate very large wild animals. A related drug, sufentanil, is less potent and is the strongest fentanyl analog that is used for medical purposes in people in the United States of America. Carfentanil was first created in 1974 by a Janssen Pharmaceutica chemist team, and Paul Janssen was one of the chemists responsible for the synthesis of the drug. Carfentanil is 100 times stronger than fentanyl, and it is 10,000 times stronger than morphine. Imagine the addiction and overdose potential that this drug threatens when used by people, and it had been found in the USA mixed with heroin.
Carfentinal is such a powerful opioid that in the year 2015 the drug had a DEA ACSCN of 9743, and is a Schedule II Narcotic controlled substance. The 2015 annual aggregate manufacturing quota of 19 grams was also kept in place from the previous year. As a fentanyl analog the drug can have side effects which include respiratory depression which can be serious or even life threatening, and it can cause nausea and itching. Hundreds of individuals in Europe and What was once the Soviet Republic have died from overdoses that involved fentanyl analogs. Law enforcement is always trying to play catch up because novel and new derivatives are synthesized all the time.
