LORAIN COUNTY — Warnings have been issued about a drug even deadlier than fentanyl, and Narcan may not work.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Law enforcement agencies in parts of Ohio are getting alerts from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) about purple fentanyl.
Our CBS affiliate, WOIO in Cleveland, reports that there are reports of purple fentanyl popping up across the Midwest.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Community in shock after apparent murder-suicide in Miami County
- Police, Ohio BCI agents respond to Greene County neighborhood
- Apparent murder-suicide outside local municipal building under investigation
“Supposedly, it gets a higher, increased high,” said Major Heath Tester, head of the Drug Task Force for the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office.
He said that dealers are cutting this new form of fentanyl with an anesthetic.
“They’re mixing it with lidocaine, the fentanyl with the lidocaine,” said Major Tester.
WOIO says that lidocaine is easily obtained and often prescribed in patches for back pain.
But it’s also transforming an already deadly drug into a much more potent killer.
“The Narcan has a reverse effect on it. It’s not bringing them back because of whatever the lidocaine is, the mixture of that is countering with the fentanyl,” said Major Tester.
The DEA recently posted photos of purple fentanyl bricks they seized, along with bags of purple and orange pills.
They said that purple fentanyl comes in several other forms, including powder and blocks that look like sidewalk chalk.
WOIO reports that purple fentanyl has shown up in Michigan, Missouri, and Nebraska.
While none have been reported in Northern Ohio, law enforcement says it is just a matter of time.
“Here again, now we’ve got to learn what, you know, how to stop this,” said Major Tester.
WOIO says the purple color is thought to be a marketing ploy by drug dealers. It has nothing to do with the drug’s potency.
[SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2025 Cox Media Group
