Carfentanil poses extreme overdose risk due to high potency

Carfentanil, a synthetic opioid used in veterinary medicine for sedating large animals such as elephants, poses a severe risk of fatal overdose in humans. According to Karina Alor, clinical head at Cúspide Centro de Rehabilitación, the substance is approximately 100 times more potent than fentanyl and 10,000 times more potent than morphine.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) notes that carfentanil is not approved for human use and has been identified in the illegal drug market, often mixed with other substances or found in counterfeit pills. Because of its extreme potency, even minute quantities can be lethal, making accidental exposure highly likely when it is clandestinely combined with other drugs.