Coroner Warns About Designer Drugs That Can Be Deadly

Officials are once again warning the public about more designer drugs that are making the rounds with a high potential of overdose.

 
East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Dr. Beau Clark says a recent death as been confirmed to be directly related to the use of "Novel Psychoactive or Synthetic Opiod Substances."

 
He says they aren't sold locally yet.

"They can be purchased over the internet," says Clark. "That's what makes this very, very scary because someone can get their hands on this stuff and these things can be incredibly deadly even with just one dose."

 
Clark says these drugs are not new, but they are deadly chemical compounds of other drugs designed to exploit temporary loopholes in current laws. He says these chemists who create the opiod-like substances have no regard for public safety.

"Then you have a pool of people that are addicited to opiates and would do anything to get their hands on them," said Clark. "And if they can't find heroin they turn to the internet and find these drugs."

 
Clark says one of these substances is known as "pinky" which is around 7 and a half times more potent than morphine and been associated with numerous fatalities across the US.

He says they wanted to make an immediate notification to those in possession of or are considering to use any of these designer drugs.

"Our release is simply to inform the public that these exist and are very dangerous causing death very rapidly," said Clark.