A new drug dubbed ‘flysky’ is spreading through the US, with officials warning it can kill.
The drug is being sold throughout the Pittsburgh region, with at least two overdose deaths recorded in the last few days, according to local police.
It has also been seen in Philadelphia, Chicago and other areas.
What is ‘flysky’?
The drug is made up of heroin laced with medetomidine, a tranquiliser used by vets.
It is an alternative to fentanyl, a synthetic opioid which has become increasingly popular in both the US and UK in recent years. Also mixed with heroin, fentanyl has lead to numerous overdose deaths.
How dangerous is ‘flysky’?
Fayette County District Attorney Michael Aubele says that users need to be aware that it can be lethal.
‘My understanding is that medetomidine is a drug that is not affected by Narcan. So if you overdose on medetomidine, Narcan is not going to save you,’ he told CBS Pittsburgh.
Narcan is an opioid antagonist, a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids, such as heroin.
What is being done about the spread?
Mr Aubele says that local and state police are working to to get ‘flysky’ off the streets and his office will prosecute those responsible for making and distributing it.
‘We want people to be safe. We want everybody to be alive and to be healthy. You just don’t know what you are getting anymore on the street,” he added.
He encouraged anyone who may have a bag of the drug to turn it into authorities at several places in the county, including police stations, with no questions asked.
Is ‘flysky’ being sold on UK streets?
Matthew Atha, from the Independent Drug Monitoring Unit, said he had not been made aware of the drug in the UK.
He added that since the Taliban clampdown on opium production in Afghanistan he has been predicting a rise in overdose deaths caused by ‘adulteration or replacement of heroin powders with fentanyl, carfentanyl or nitazenes [all opioids]’
He said these drugs were so potent that incomplete mixing during the adulteration process can lead to ‘hot spots’ capable of causing overdoses.
In reference to ‘flysky’ he told Metro: ‘Why would an animal tranquilliser be used as an adulterant when other substances are available? I would consider it very unlikely that this would take off in the UK.’
Mr Atha said many drugs have appeared in the USA but never made the transition to the UK.
‘In the late ‘60s and ‘70s it was PCP (phencyclidine aka ‘Angel Dust’), and since the ‘90s crystal meth (methamphetamine) has been popular in the UK but limited to a few niche markets, for example chemsex parties,’ he explained.
What new drugs have caused concern in the UK?
In the UK, charities have said they’re preparing for an ‘epidemic of death’ due to the emergence of nitazenes, the synthetic opioid mentioned by Mr Atha.
Nitazenes – which are fifty times stronger than heroin – have infiltrated illicit drug supplies and are linked to hundreds of deaths.
First detected in white powder sampled from a Wakefield taxi in April 2021, nitazenes have since been found in cannabis, crack cocaine, heroin and even vapes.
Earlier this summer a 28-year-old man and 20-year-old woman died in Southall, west London, after taking pills that contained nitazenes.
It is believed they may have thought they were buying ecstasy or powerful painkiller oxycodon.
Opioid use and overdoses have been on the rise for more than a decade across the UK – in 2022, 46% of the 2,261 drug poisoning deaths involved an opiate.
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