THE number of people who have died from using cocaine in the United States has soared – because it’s being cut with opioids, experts warn.
Health bosses say that the drug is being cut with the powerful and highly-addictive synthetic painkiller fentanyl, dubbed “Speedball 2.0”.
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Popularity of the deadly compound is being blamed on record production in Colombia, which has widened the market and pushed down prices.
Cocaine-related overdoses took the lives of almost 14,000 Americans in 2017, according to the latest government figures.
In the same year, 49,000 Americans died from using fentanyl – a figure that’s only expected to rise.
Last year, two million people in the US said they regularly used the drug compared with 1.4 million in 2011.
Smuggled drugs
Most of the fentanyl sold illegally in the US is smuggled from China – and is behind an ongoing opioid epidemic that kills tens of thousands each year.
With its huge profit margins, drug dealers are able to sell Speedball 2.0 cheap because of fentanyl, Medical Daily reports.
The reason they’re putting it in is it’s cheap. Also, they’re not chemists. They don’t always know what they’re doing
Thomas Fallon
Thomas Fallon, commander of the Hamilton County Heroin Coalition Task Force in Ohio, told NBC News:“The reason they’re putting it in is it’s cheap.
“Also, they’re not chemists. They don’t always know what they’re doing.”
Colin Planalp, senior research fellow with the University of Minnesota’s State Health Access Data Assistance Center, said that the increase in cocaine-related deaths is directly related to the national opioid crisis.
Huge rise
More than 30 states have seen a rise in lethal cocaine overdoses since 2010, with Ohio seeing the highest rate.
Experts say it’s a particular danger to longtime cocaine users who may be older, sicker and unaccustomed to the effects of opioids such as fentanyl.
In the ’70s, a ‘speedball’ was a mix of cocaine and heroin. I call this ‘speedball 2.0′
Tom Synan
Tom Synan, police chief in Cincinnati, said: “In the ’70s, a ‘speedball’ was a mix of cocaine and heroin.
“I call this ‘speedball 2.0.’ Fentanyl has made it much worse. It’s made every drug people are addicted to into a crisis.”
Previously, we reported how abusing cocaine can leave gaping holes in the roof of users’ mouths.
Gruesome photos reveal the extent of the damage the Class A drug can cause, eating away at soft tissue from the inside out.
Cocaine use has doubled in the UK over the past five years, with around one million Brits admitting to taking the drug in the last year.
Earlier this year, The Sun launched the End Of The Line campaign, to highlight the devastating effects the drug can have.
