Deadly New U-47700 Drug Linked to 50 Deaths
A dangerous new synthetic drug is being blamed for 50 deaths across America in the past two months alone.
That drug doesn’t even have a marketable street name: it’s simply called U-47700. It’s leading to overdoses all across America. Oh, and you can buy it for about $40 online and have it delivered to your door.
What’s the story behind this trendy new drug? Let’s find out everything you need to know about U-47700 today.
It’s Leading to Dozens of Deaths Across America
Two users in Indiana recently overdosed on U-47700. When cops were searching the residence, they found packaging and shipping labels advertising a man-made chemical cocktail sold online under the number U-47700.
A quick Google Search will show you just how easy it is to order U-47700 online. In 10 seconds of online searching, we were able to find websites offering it delivered to your door at a price of $39.
Cops believe “bathroom scientists” are throwing together these drugs based on rudimentary chemical formulas. They sell the drugs online for profit, then advertise it as the best new (and legal) high that’s safer to use than fentanyl.
Across America, the drug cocktail has already been linked to 50 deaths. The packaging even tells you not to use the drug for human consumption – although clearly, this isn’t stopping people.
“You take someone who's already got an addiction problem and you give them an inexpensive drug that's readily available and some would say legal, and that can cause catastrophic results,” said one addiction counselor interviewed in a recent news article about the drug. “One of the things that makes it dangerous is we don't know a lot about it and what we do know is not good.”
Emergency Bans Issued in Several States
So far a number of states have banned the drug, including Ohio, Wyoming, Iowa, and Georgia. Those bans make it illegal to use or sell the drug.
The number of states in which U-47700 is banned is expected to grow – similar to the way in which spice and bath salt bans spread across America. Ohio was the first to call an emergency ban, and other states are expected to follow suit.
Meanwhile, overseas, Finland and Sweden have previously banned use of the drug. Sweden banned the drug in January 2016. Belgium has also officially recorded deaths as a result of the drug. In the UK, it’s illegal to produce, supply, or import the drug as of May 2016.
What Is U-47700?
U-47700 was created by pharmaceutical giant The Upjohn Company back in the 1970s.
Chemically speaking, the drug works as an opioid analgesic. It was derived from earlier opioids by researchers. In early testing (on animals), it was found to have 7.5 times the potency of morphine.
Upjohn eventually received over a dozen patents related to the drug and spent a great deal of time and money “elucidating the quantitative structure-activity relationship” of the chemical scaffolding of the drug.
After all that testing, Upjohn found that U-47700 was the most active and most powerful version of the chemical compound.
Here’s what the drug’s chemical name looks like: 3,4-dichloro-N-[(1R,2R)-2-(dimethylamino)cyclohexyl]-N-methylbenzamide
How Does U-47700 Work?
U-47700 works by binding to and activating a specific opioid receptor. This provides a sedative effect with 7.5 times the potency of morphine. Opioids structurally mimic the natural endorphins in your body, which is why they lead to pain relief, euphoria, and anxiolytic effects.
The full method of action behind U-47700 is not fully understood. It may also act as an agonist for the kappa-opioid receptor system. Some of the “bathroom chemists” mentioned above are currently experimenting with other chemical compounds (like U-50488 and U-69,593) to see which has the most powerful effect on the kappa-opioid system.
It Has Never Been Studied on Humans
The Upjohn Company never ended up bringing U-47700 to market. Early animal testing, as mentioned above, showed that it was 7.5 times as powerful as morphine. However, human tests on the drug were never completed.
Side Effects of U-47700
Some of the side effects of U-47700 include:
-Strong analgesia
-Sedation
-Euphoria
-Constipation
-Itching
-Respiratory depression
Tolerance and dependence is expected to develop as your body grows accustomed to the drug.
Prince May Have Taken U-47700
Prince famously died of a fentanyl overdose on April 21, 2016. However, medical examiners have since said that fentanyl was just one part of the deadly cocktail in Prince’s system.
One news agency reported that other parts of the cocktail included U-47700, described as a “synthetic opioid, eight times stronger than morphine”. That drug apparently didn’t appear in initial testing and took more time to spot.
It’s Deadly Because It’s Resistant to the Most Popular Fentanyl Antidote
When Prince’s plane made an emergency landing in Illinois a week before his death, paramedics on the ground gave him two Narcan shots. Narcan is an antidote that is regularly used to save lives: it reverses the effects of painkillers and sedatives.
However, U-47700 is thought to be particularly deadly because it’s resistant to popular antidotes like Narcan. Even if paramedics arrive and you’re still alive after taking U-47700, you might be too far gone to save because the known antidote doesn’t work.
How to Take U-47700
U-47700 is typically taken by snorting it up your nose or by IV.
In one Reddit thread on the drug, users reported taking doses as high as 10 to 15mg in one go, although they typically took a smaller amount. Those users also reported that the drug lasted significantly shorter than other popular opioids (like oxymorphone), with the primary effects occurring in the first 5 to 15 minutes.
Users also reported that tolerance grows “incredibly fast” with U-47700 – which is why so many people may be experiencing overdoses.
Ultimately, authorities expect the number of deaths from U-47700 to continue to rise across America. You can expect other states to follow Ohio’s example and start banning this drug over the coming months.
