With the nation already in the grips of an opioid epidemic, officials have a new warning about heroin.
Reports of heroin laced with the potent commercial opioid carfentanil have come from across the country, according to CNN.
[ >> Read more trending stories ]
Carfentanil is used commercially to sedate large animals like elephants. It is 10,000 times stronger than morphine, and approximately two milligrams can sedate a 2,000-pound elephant, according to the CNN report.
Dealers often cut heroin with another substance to stretch supplies, and a user may not be aware. The deadly potency of carfentanil may be linked to recent heroin overdose outbreaks in Ohio, Indiana and Florida.