Another tragic turn for the opiate epidemic in Wisconsin. The state now confirms its first case of a drug more potent and lethal than both heroin and fentanyl.
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On Tuesday, TODAY'S TMJ4 first reported about a possible case. Thursday the Attorney General's office confirmed a case in St. Croix County in northwest Wisconsin.
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"That would be a full five-alarm fire here that we would be worried about," said Wisconsin's Attorney General Brad Schimel.
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This week, Schimel first told us about his concerns with the dangerously potent opiate known as cafentanil. It's supposed to be used to sedate elephants.
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But now narcotic dealers are using it to boost the potency of heroin.
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"The math says carfentanil is 10,000 times more potent than the heroin for sale in the street, and what's frightening is there is a demand for it," said Schimel.
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Carfentanil is already blamed for a spike in overdose deaths this year in cities like Cincinnati. It's far more deadly that fentanyl, which is on the rise in Milwaukee County.
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As of September there were 56 fentanyl overdose deaths in the county this year. That's almost double all of last year, and ten times more than in 2012.
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Schimel says fentanyl and carfentanil are coming from clandestine labs south of the US border as well as China, and is sometimes shipped to users in the mail.
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"Law enforcement - we are going after the supply side like we always have but this epidemic - this is a public health crisis. We have to go after the demand side," said Schimel.
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Milwaukee Alderman Michael Murphy wants to set up a City-County Heroin and Opioid task force to learn more about the problem and find ways to fight it.
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